The beginning of the end for the A380...

[AA 1818]

Well Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier was quick to respond on ATW (i cant read the english article cause im not subcribed). But according to the Dutch news article Airbus is still has confidence with the A380 saying they are (still) working on a stretched version and a NEO version is still an option

http://atwonline.com/manufacturers/a...g-not-priority

Seeing how poorly the A380CEO did, is a -NEO really a viable option? Were there really any carriers out there, on the fence, because it was too fuel hungry? AND, order big enough to keep them in the game? The only carrier I can imagine would go for that would be QF (as they have deferred their orders) and the remained of EK's birds (though, their entire narrative has been that they cannot get planes fast enough...) - so a lengthy wait (in excess of 2 years-ish) is out of the question.

If there are engines out there now, that are more efficient - why are they not already on The Whale?

A stretched version - who would want it? EK, again to convert orders? No Japanese customers (for HD-Seating). Who else would want more plane? Does anyone have that much demand? Put a few more suites in? Or, worse - put in more coach and still sell at a high price for 'novelty of the service'? The great gain would have been to cargo carriers - which, to be honest, is a scary proposition. However that version was cancelled, and I can't think of any other carrier out there who would have wanted to buy one by now, and not have done it.

The dream was to have every Asian carrier fly one or two to LAX daily, to have American Carriers fly to reciprocate, to reposition and to get onto Trans-Atlantic especially into LHR, CDG, FRA, e.t.c. Euro carriers each would have a few to touch JFK, LAX, MIA, YYZ. But, how did it pan out? Save for the atrocious economy that we survived, the new reality out there (perhaps even temporarily with gas being so low in price) is still better for not ordering the type. Those dreams never panned out, and so it's time to focus on the A350, and the new A320 family.

Consider for a second that this recent Russian Ruble Run has thrown a carrier like Transaero onto the fence about their order to begin with. Where in the hell were they planning on flying those aircraft anyway? That many people want to go from Moscow to Vladivistock? Crimea needs a "Berlin Airlift"? Can Cuba handle an A380? Would they even want to considering how quickly the diplomatic walls between Cuba and the U.S. are thinning, and falling. JFK? LAX? LHR? With this NEO-Cold-War climate?

[porter guy]

The only reason it isn't being used by European carriers to YYZ is because we only have one gate capable of handling the huge thing but basically every other day that gate is holding an A380 for 5 or 6 hours, that's the Emirates A380. And she sits there when all the European carriers want to bring it in. I have heard that BA, LH and AF all want to bring the A380 to Toronto, but the lack of available gates means that unless they adjust their schedule, it will have to be 747's which I don't have a problem with lol

[AA 1818]

The only reason it isn't being used by European carriers to YYZ is because we only have one gate capable of handling the huge thing but basically every other day that gate is holding an A380 for 5 or 6 hours, that's the Emirates A380. And she sits there when all the European carriers want to bring it in. I have heard that BA, LH and AF all want to bring the A380 to Toronto, but the lack of available gates means that unless they adjust their schedule, it will have to be 747's which I don't have a problem with lol

Which is hard for me to believe, that with that much demand an airport like YYZ would not invest in the infrastructure to make the changes necessary - unless there was an ulterior motive. I believe that the Canadian Government is being protectionist when it comes to AC (as was the issue with the past spat between the UAE/Canada), and doing so either directly or indirectly affects AC. It may prove to be a successful move - sheltering YYZ from falling prey to the EK syndrome...

[porter guy]

Well you can say we technically have two gates at Terminal 1's pier F but the second gates second floor jetway does not rise high enough for it to reach the second floor and they haven't fixed it for some reason.

And I am guessing they didn't change any infrastructure yet because there has never really been any A380 interest until lately. Think about it, Lufthansa only recently began bringing the 744 to Toronto. Before it was an A340-600 and an A340-300 from DUS. As for BA, they fly here three times daily during the summer anyways and with only 1 744, but they could consolidate all of those flights into 1 A380.

Rumor has it that only one gate will be changed to handle the A380 at terminal 3 so if BA brings its A380 then Air France will have to continue using their A340/777/744 combination. It's not that YYZ doesn't want to change per say, it's that space is so limited, especially after 'finished in the 80's' terminal 3. Back when a full length double decker was just a Mcdonnel Douglas dream. #MD12 lol

[ConcordeBoy]

I don't see how people can afford to fly Emirates. An article recently about their A380 service to Houston listed the prices and it was nuts. First class was $18,000.

Um, you do realize that the overwhelming majority of their pax are not flying in paid F, do you not?

Their Y isn't really all that much more than anyone else's.