As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines need extra capacity more than ever. Despite being counted out, the Airbus A380 has made a comeback in recent years because of this. Airlines such as Lufthansa felt that due to this excess demand, the cost to bring back the superjumbo this year was worth it. Continuing with my trilogy starting with the 787 and ending with the A350, we will go over the history of this plane as well as its importance to aviation.
Background
Since 1970, Boeing dominated the VLA (very large aircraft) market with the 747. Due to its success, Boeing kept updating the model to cement their dominance in this aspect of the market, peaking in February 1989 when the 747-400 was delivered to Northwest Airlines. Up to that time Boeing’s 747 sales accounted for “39% of the company’s sales” (Spaeth, 28). The only real competition it had at the time was the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. In 1988, however, Airbus started development in secret of an ultra-high-capacity-airliner. It would eventually be announced at the 1990 Farnborough Airshow. Around the same time, Boeing also was “working on their New Large Aircraft (NLA) program” (Spaeth, 32). The manufacturers were on the clock because by the year 2000, 747s would be too small on routes where higher frequencies aren’t possible in a study conducted by British Airways. Around the same time, McDonnell Douglas was working on the MD-12 which bears a similarity to the A380. Consequently, for a brief period, Boeing and Airbus began a joint feasibility study of a VLCT (Very Large Commercial Transport Aircraft). By 1994, however Airbus decided to go their own way and develop their own very large airliner.
Enter the A3XX
While Boeing left the project to work on a long-haul aircraft that could feed smaller regional markets (see my Dreamliner post for more information about that), Airbus pressed on with the A3XX. The leader of the project was Jurgen Thomas who is considered “the father of the A380.” He would become the head of the Airbus large aircraft division. First off, they had to check if the design was feasible by making sure that all occupants of the plane could be evacuated within 90 seconds. From the late 80s to 1993, Airbus explored different ideas from two fuselages next to each other to a double decker configuration that featured a cross section looking like BB-8 in Star Wars. Eventually in 1993, they would go with the egg-shaped cross section that we know today. In the meantime, Boeing announced that they were planning to introduce the 747-500X and 747-600X at Farnborough in 1996. This forced Airbus to “accelerate their timetable with a start date in Q3 1999” (Spaeth, 42).
However that turned out to be a bluff from Boeing and the project was cancelled. But the A3XX progamme still had pressure from British Airways to meet the deadline. On the 3rd of July in 1997, the head of fleet planning at British Airways wrote to Jurgen Thomas that “they are concerned about the relaxed attitude about the project timetable.” But in 1998, the launch was postponed due in part to an economic crisis in Asia in addition to power struggles within the company. Because of the weak market in 1998, Boeing had to lay off 48,000 employees and Airbus was forced to postpone again. Then Boeing CEO Phil Condit publicly boasted his prediction that “Airbus will never launch the A380.” As a result, Boeing decided to not work on an A3XX competitor and focus on other projects. Development costs for the A3XX skyrocketed to $10 billion. Due to the size of the type, Airbus took advantage of this by proposing ideas considered silly by Jurgen Thomas such as having tiled bathrooms, bowling alleys and even an in-flight theater. However Airbus eventually decided to use a marketing strategy similar to what Boeing did in the 1960s with the 747. Airbus utilized Emirates, Qantas and Singapore Airlines in a similar vein to how Boeing used Pan Am in the 1960s to market the new plane. The reason being so is because selling to premium airlines would create pressure on others to acquire an aircraft like this. The most important customer to this strategy was Emirates because they had a claim to global dominance due to Dubai’s location relative to other cities all over the world. Eventually in May 2000, Emirates placed an order for five A3XXs with options for five more. Other Airlines such as Air France and Virgin Atlantic would also make advance commitments. However that came with new challenges for Jurgen Thomas and his staff. Some customers had special requests and Airbus had to cater to them unlike Boeing who was focused on one airline Pan Am.
Due to feedback from Singapore regarding the A380 needing the range to fly from SIN to LHR, Airbus had to increase the takeoff weight from 540 to 560 tonnes. Qantas also had similar concerns and joined SIA and Emirates as being the launch customers of the type. Then on December 19th, 2000, preliminary contracts were signed for 50 aircraft with options for 42 more from six airlines. But the question is, what to name the aircraft. Initially, “A360” was considered due to the global role of a giant aircraft referencing 360 degrees on a compass. A370 however was never going to be due in large part to that number being associated with Boeing. So eventually Airbus decided to go with A380 due to the double fuselage looking like an 8 in addition to “8” being a lucky number in various Asian countries according to Airbus boss Noel Forgeard.
Supply Chain Issues
Just like with the 787, Airbus had to utilize a new supply chain for the A380. More so than previous aircraft, the A380 was a true joint venture between France, Britain, Germany and Spain. By August 1997, politicians all over Europe were bringing up places where the final assembly could commence which included French city Saint Nazaire, Seville in Spain and Laage in Germany. But by June 23rd, 2000, Airbus decided to keep the A380 at their already existing production sites with Toulouse dealing with final assembly as well as “testing and delivery to non-European customers” (Spaeth, 51). Hamburg is mainly responsible for assembling the front and rear sections of the fuselage as well as the interior outfitting of the type, painting and delivery to customers in Europe and the Middle East. Gustav Humbert of German partner Dasa stated the following:
"This industry sensible compromise allows us to make optimal use of the existing strengths, technological know-how and industrial capabilities at the two final assembly scenes of the Airbus system."
However right from the start there were challenges. First off, the Mühlenberger Loch that was adjacent to the Airbus plant had to be filled so 165 hectares of land could be used for the new facilities. That cost Hamburg taxpayers 660 million euros that would eventually result in 2000 new jobs being created. Land reclamation began in February 2001 and ended in September 2002 with fuselage sections being assembled one year later. A total of 650 million Euros were procured to create the plant. The fuselage shells were delivered to Hamburg from Nordenham on special containers by ship via the Weser estuary, the North Sea and the Elbe. Composite vertical stabilizers reached Hamburg via road on a low-loader from the Stade plant. After being painted, the stabilizers would be transported via air on the Beluga freighter. Lastly the end piece of the fuselage would be flown in from Getafe in Spain. Toulouse had to face significant changes as well in addition to the existing plant with all the other local final assembly lines for other Airbus aircraft.
Airbus under heavy pressure built their new Jan Luc Lagardère plant on 50 hectares of unused land on the northeastern end of the airport for 360 million euros. 2000 employees were needed to assemble the A380. One notable feature when it comes to the supply chain is the road journey the A380 fuselage sections take from Saint-Nazaire to Toulouse. French residents of small towns and villages get to see the massive sections move down the street every few weeks. “170 million Euros were spent to make this happen” (Spaeth, 52). However there were snags in the production with the wiring. The fuselage sections built in Hamburg and their wiring weren’t compatible with the French-built wiring. With 90,000 individual electric cables with a cumulative length of 540 km (336 miles) that are required to perform 1200 different functions, it was a major setback. The main culprit was engineers in Hamburg “working on the 3D computer model with the CAITA V4 programme from Dassault” (Spaeth 59). On the other hand, Toulouse and Filton, UK utilized more modern CAITA V5 and CADD S5 respectively. These later software systems were the only ones capable of incorporating the thousands of construction changes in real time. However Airbus COO Gustav Humbert resisted updating the Hamburg software due to potential delays and added costs. Despite criticism from his colleagues including CEO Noël Forgeard. Humbert decided to keep the older software causing a rift between him and Forgeard. The older system would get overwhelmed because of the revisions. The wiring harnesses ordered from suppliers were also out of date. The reason why there’s this issue is due in part to Aérospatiale and British Aerospace doing the main work for the A340-500/600 program. Those suppliers were more well versed in 3D computer designs than their colleagues in Hamburg. They only had a small share of system development which resulted in 16,000 jobs being lost in the mid-90s through their savings program with Dolores. The cost reduction program was to blame for the lack of investment in Hamburg. This would eventually be a major problem. It didn’t stop the A380 making its first flight in April 2005, but the lack of experience with the Hamburg division was apparent. By 2006, Airbus had to announce production to be delayed by 6 months resulting in a loss of 5.5 million euros.
Materials, Systems and Engines
At first glance, when it comes to the A380, casual observers just notice the size and nothing else. However this plane does have its share of innovations. Despite its size, Airbus utilized lightweight materials for the A380. In its current form, the A380 “consists of 61% aluminum, 10% titanium and steel, 22% carbon fiber, and 3% of a then-novelty in commercial aircraft construction called Glare (glass fiber-reinforced aluminum)” (Spaeth, 68). Jürgen Thomas stated the following:
"If I have a weight problem, then I have the wrong aircraft."
The X-factor here was GLARE. This unique material would be created by standing by a metal frame and applying a brownish adhesive film made of a synthetic resin called glass-fiber pre-peg to a thin aluminum sheet. As soon as it is in place, the ends had to be cut off and a 0.38 mm thin layer of sheet metal is added to the top. As a matter of fact, the shell of the upper deck is made of this material. As for carbon fibers, the empennage as well as the center wing boxes all were made out of these materials. Next up are what engines are going to power the bird. The plane would eventually be powered by either four Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines or four GP7200 Engines in a collaboration between GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney. Both types produce 70,000 pounds of thrust each. In addition to reduce maintenance costs, only two of the engines have reverse thrusters that can allow the plane to land on runways that are 45 meters (147 feet) in width. Both engine types can also just have two engines running during taxi thus reducing fuel costs. As for the engines themselves, Rolls Royce introduced the Trent 900 in 2004 and was tested on an A340-300 that same year. Then in December of that same year the GP7200 made its first flight on a Boeing 747-200. These engines were originally intended for the cancelled Boeing 747-500X/600X program. The design was based on the PW4000 used on the 777. They use a combination of the low-pressure compression system utilized by P&W along with a high-pressure system of compressor, combustor, and turbine base on the GE90. Only five operators opted for this engine with Emirates equipping 90 of their aircraft with this engine type.
Another feat of the A380 is the technology it provides in the cockpit. Like with most modern aircraft these days, the plane utilizes fly-by-wire controls. Because of this, unlike previous Airbus aircraft which have three hydraulic systems, the A380 only has two high-pressure hydraulic circuits. It’s a system similar to what’s used on fighter jets such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet. So there are four independently operating systems that can control the plane. Two systems for normal control use high-pressure hydraulic circuits while the other two are used on an as needed basis. As for the cockpit itself, the plane has seven rectangular LCD screens that can show a vertical terrain profile of the ground below helping pilots fly in low visibility. These planes also have cameras mounted on the vertical stabilizer and the nose wheel to help with navigation as well as providing passengers a unique perspective of takeoff and landing. But there’s a new system known as the Flight Management System (FMS). The crew can direct cursors on three different screens that can enter data, thus not utilizing any paper. Eventually airlines would do this practice today with Alaska Airlines even going as far as using tablets to store key information for routes (i.e. navigational charts, airports maps etc.).
First Flight and Testing
On January 18th 2005, the A380 was first unveiled to the public. Heads of State from the EU were all there to show the A380 to the world despite a winter storm at Toulouse. About three months later on April 27th, the A380 made its first flight to “test out issues such as flutter” (Spaeth, 105). The pilots were Claude Lelaie and Jaques Rosay. The plane was described as very quiet at takeoff. After that the A380 would forgo “2100 flight hours of testing” (Spaeth, 108), which was higher than usual (1600 to 2000 flight hours). Airbus would eventually commit 2666 flight hours in the air. On October 18th of the same year, MSN 004 the second test aircraft would make its first flight with the GP7200 engines. Two more would eventually join the Airbus test fleet. Some of them are still being used today to test sustainable aviation fuels and engines for upcoming aircraft such as the A350-1000. Then on December 12th, 2006 the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines were certified by the EASA and FAA and one year later the GP7200 would follow suit.
The planes had to go through the wringer when it comes to flight testing because customers such as Emirates had ambitions to fly the A380 all over the world. Airbus would fly the A380 to Colombia for “hot and high” testing to see how the plane can handle taking off from high altitude airports such as Denver. For cold weather testing, the A380 would fly to Northern Canada to see how well systems could be restarted in cold weather. However the plane did run into some problems during testing. First off in the cold, an “oil pump broke in the cold and the thrust reverser reacted very slowly at idle” (Spaeth, 110). The bigger issue though is the fuel. Bubbles around the fuel pumps formed “causing them to run dry” as stated by test pilot Wolfgang Absmeier. He also added that “for ground temperatures below -45 Degrees Celsius (-49 Degrees Fahrenheit) we use special additives due to how the fuel can flocculate and affect the pumps.” However warm weather tests are more important. Especially Emirates who are not only based in Dubai, but fly to destinations such as Manila, Singapore, Bali, and Maldives which are all hot and humid. Unfortunately, “the air conditioning would always spit out chunks of ice bigger than hailstones due to the high humidity” (Spaeth, 110).
Then after that, the A380 would have to take “proving flights” which are test flights that are as long as long-haul flight with a full passenger load to make sure the systems hold up. Examples of this are flying over Central Europe from 8 to 16 hours. Other flights that would be tested would be from Toulouse to Johannesburg. From there, the A380 would fly to Sydney via the South Pole. Lastly, Airbus would fly the A380 from Toulouse to Vancouver over the North Pole. The flights “went well” according to test pilot Huges van der Stichel after landing. He then added, “the aircraft proved to be a nice, comfortable and quiet machine.”
However one of the biggest issues were the development of the emergency slides. Jürgen Thomas stated that they “started work as early as 1996 to work on evacuation slides with Aircruises and BF Goodrich.” Because of the size of the plane, the slides are “equipped with two lanes side by side with lights in the side boundaries” (Spaeth, 115). Lufthansa needed Airbus to test the systems in Hamburg with 40 cabin crew and pilots with 40% of them being women, 35% being over 50 years old, and 15% being women over 50 years old. 1100 more volunteers would be needed as well. These tests would take place in conditions like night flights to deal with the sparse lighting. Incredibly during one test, all 873 people in the plane left after 78 seconds with only 3 injured with one broken leg.
Initially this plane would be ready for delivery in June 2006 but delays would force Airbus to push to one year later. These delays would cost Airbus millions of Euros and the cargo variant being cancelled. Eventually, Airbus would do more proving flights in late 2006 flying MSN 002 from Toulouse to Singapore to Vancouver and back. Then in March 2007, MSN 007 would do proving flights with a twist. It would be the only A380 to actually have a full interior with 500 seats (12 in First Class forward on the main deck, 64 in Business in the upper deck at the front, and 136 in economy plus a bar behind first class). Despite certification being awarded in December 2006, Airbus needed to do these flights to make sure it was all ready to go. MSN 007 would be based at Frankfurt and would fly 12 different flights to New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Washington DC and Munich completing 65 total hours in the air. Eventually the first A380 would be delivered to Singapore Airlines in 2007.
Commercial Service
On October 25, 2007 the A380 would finally inaugurate service with Singapore Airlines. The plane would fly from Singapore to Sydney as SQ380 for 7 hrs and 40 min. After that, eventually other airlines would start to inaugurate the A380s in their fleet. Due to the plane’s sheer size, airlines can take advantage of this by offering unique amenities to the plane. For example, airlines such as Qantas and Korean Air would offer new amenities. The latter would have their own duty-free shop and a bar in the plane whereas Qantas would have a social lounge in the upper deck for business and first class travelers.
However that doesn’t compare to the Middle East carriers such as Qatar and Etihad. In first class and business class, Qatar offers a bar for their passengers whereas Etihad has their own apartment known as “The Residence.” In the latter, passengers have their own living room, bedroom and shower. But it isn’t just luxury that the plane is known for.
The A380 when utilized correctly would be used for high demand routes such as London to New York so they can maximize the number of passengers on board. This is why London Heathrow has the most variety of A380 users. Due to Heathrow’s stringent slot regulations, airlines that operate the A380 benefit from this because they can use less aircraft to keep up with demand. It’s also why British Airways refused to retire their A380s due in part to these restrictions. However when it comes to the customers of the A380, there’s one airline that stands out.
Rise of Emirates
While other airlines did benefit from the A380, one airline used this plane to take over the world. That airline is Emirates. Founded by the Royal Family of Dubai in 1985, the startup received $10 million from Pakistani International Airlines. PIA would lease them a Boeing 737-300, Airbus A300-200 and purchase 2 Boeing 727-200s from the Dubai Royal Family. Their first flight would be from Dubai to Karachi on October 25th, 1985. Then the airline would order their first fully owned aircraft by purchasing 13 Airbus A310s and 7 A300s in 1987. This would allow them to launch their first flight to Western Europe from Dubai to London Gatwick.
Starting in the early 90s, they would finally order Boeing 777s to replace the aging Airbuses. Then in December of 2008, Emirates would eventually get their first A380. The carrier’s inaugural A380 flight would be from Dubai to London Heathrow. The airline ordered 123 A380s receiving 121 between 2000 and 2018. The reason being so is because unlike other airlines, Emirates perfected the hub-and-spoke model by utilizing the A380 to fly from one point to Dubai and passengers can transfer to another destination there. For example, if you were to fly to Singapore from New York, you would fly an Emirates A380 from JFK to Dubai and then fly on another A380 to Singapore.
However their busiest A380 route would be from Dubai to Heathrow which at peak travel season sees 6 daily flights. In addition, Emirates is able to offer best in class service on all their A380 flights. Like Qatar, they offer a bar for first and business class travelers. But in first class, passengers get their own suite, book a shower, dine on demand (order dinner whatever they want whenever they want) and have their own spa. The A380 would be important to Emirates’ marketing strategy as well recently using Penelope Cruz to advertise their First Class product on the A380. But due to its size, Emirates can also cater the A380 to specific markets ranging from 489 to 615 seats depending on capacity needs. In addition 65 A380s now have premium economy onboard. The A380 is basically responsible for putting Dubai on the map and the plane is synonymous with Airbus (even though me personally I prefer the Boeing 777-300ER). With that said, there were other airlines that ordered the A380 but didn’t commit.
Cancelled Orders and Variants
In 2001, Virgin Atlantic ordered 6 A380s. However they would keep deferring until 2018 when Virgin cancelled their order due in part with Delta becoming an investor in Virgin. As a result, Virgin developed a new strategy to cater to more markets. The airline felt like it wouldn’t fit in with their network. In addition, Airbus proposed a freighter version for UPS and FedEx during development but those orders were cancelled in 2007. The reason being so is because it diverted attention away from the passenger variant which at the time Airbus had to catch up on due to delays. In addition, the plane was not able to take 3 m (10 ft) pallets so the plane would have to be redesigned for cargo use unlike the 747, 757, 767, and 777 freighter variants.
In addition back in 2017, Airbus conducted a case for an A380plus. The plane would have had enhanced winglets that would have been larger thus saving money when it comes to fuel costs. It would have also added 300 more nautical miles to the A380’s range to 8.200 nm as well as being bigger. Lastly is the A380neo which would have had new engines, winglets, 50 more passengers and technologies from the A350 (fuel pump and entertainment system). However due to the changing environment, the A380 just wouldn’t fit in Airbus’ long-term plans much to the chagrin of Emirates President Sir Tim Clark.
Summary
So would I consider the A380 a success? Unfortunately this plane just feels like the right plane at the wrong time. Except for Emirates, no other airline knew how to utilize the A380 according to Emirates president Sir Tim Clark. As a result, some airlines such as Air France and Malaysia Airlines used the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to retire them. Not only that, the plane had so many delays therefore costing Airbus a lot of money and would never recover the €25 billon ($30 billion) in research and development costs. However for some like British Airways, they still need the plane due in part to London Heathrow’s slot restrictions.
So while there are airlines that were able to utilize the A380 well, unfortunately, the demand for quadjets isn’t there anymore which lead to the project’s termination in 2021. And even the airlines that have the A380 would eventually replace the type with the 777-9 once it enters service. But what do you guys think? Is the A380 a success? Be sure to let me know in the comments below. Also I would like to give a special shoutout to Andreas Spaeth for publishing the book The Last Giant. It wouldn’t have been possible for me to write this post if it wasn’t for him. A lot of the information I got for this post came from his book so thank you Andreas and I hope you can visit Seattle soon! Anyways thank you to all for your patience on this post and keep looking to the sky!
Very informative post! Appreciate the knowledge shared here!