Airbus 380

August 18th, 2015 at 6:35:32 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Pacomartin
There are no intermediate cities of importance to lobby for stops or to bring lawsuits.


I wonder if all the hyperloop ideas aren't taking the train metaphor too literally. Suppose you could have five or ten tubes per route, rather than two. Some could function as point-to-point express, while other could make stops, and still others might divert to alternate destinations.

Also, it's about the only proposal for supersonic travel that has a chance to make it.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
October 8th, 2015 at 5:08:18 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
The first 25 A380s delivered between 15 Oct 2007 and 02 Jul 2010 were 11 to Emirates, 8 to Singapore Airlines, and 6 to Qantas.
Eventually 33 planes were delivered to LUFTHANSA, AIR FRANCE, and BRITISH AIRWAYS, another 33 were delivered to KOREAN AIR and ASIANA AIRLINES from Korea, MALAYSIA AIRLINES, THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL, and CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES COMPANY.

Another 84 planes are on order from the Middle East and officially 62 from the rest of the world. There is a lot of speculation about the 62 orders. With almost certainty British Airways will take their 3 orders, but every other order is under some skepticism.

The last 8 deliveries were to the Middle East. No official word is out about a decision to build a neoA380. To build the 84 orders for the Middle East will take a little over 3 years. The lease on the first Emirates A380 begins to expire in less than 5 years. Emirates has always said they will not renew the leases and the planes will be returned to be available on the secondary market. Some airlines in Asia (like Turkish Airlines) may just wait to lease the older jets.

If the price of the older jets is low enough, they may become attractive to be reconfigured as one class super jumbos to vacation destinations. Air Austral had plans to put over 800 seats per plane and fly from Paris to Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.


Many people don't realize that Lufthansa is now operating
19 passenger Boeing 747-8i's delivered between 25. Apr 2012 - 30. Apr 2015
14 passenger Airbus 380s delivered between 19. May 2010 - 07. Apr 2015

Lufthansa does not have any of either type on order. They are planning on building their future fleet with the Airbus A350-900 and the Boeing 777-9X.
October 11th, 2015 at 4:36:53 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Emirates has 67 A380's all powered by the Engine Alliance GP7000, a turbofan jet engine. All deliveries up through #90 will be with this engine. Their final 50 plane orders will be powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent 900.

Should Airbus state that they will not be building the neo-A380, Emirates may decide to limit their long term dependence on the model. They may in fact switch their last order of 50 A380s to A350s.

If that happens I suspect that these planes will be built and delivered and the program will be terminated at a loss of tens of billions of dollars
23 EMIRATES
6 ETIHAD AIRWAYS
5 QATAR AIRWAYS
3 BRITISH AIRWAYS
2 ASIANA AIRLINES

I suspect Boeing stock will have a short term boost, as their B747-8i will have no competition. Although both Boeing and Airbus took a hit since august, generally Airbus has been outperforming Boeing since early 2015 based on super strong orders for the A320 family.
November 13th, 2015 at 6:26:06 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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What if?

What if, instead of the A380 which weighs 1,300,000lb compared to 873,000lb B747-400, they had built a blended wing body (BWB) weighing 823,000lbs that could carry 800 passengers? A computer stabilized 17-foot model (6% scale) called BWB-17, sponsored by NASA and built by Stanford University, flew in 1997 and showed good handling qualities.

A BWB combined with new concepts in transparent cabins could make flying in large cabins very economical and exciting.
November 13th, 2015 at 6:52:31 AM permalink
Dalex64
Member since: Mar 8, 2014
Threads: 3
Posts: 3687
Seating away from the center-line would not be very comfortable during turns.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." Daniel Patrick Moynihan
November 13th, 2015 at 7:31:04 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Dalex64
Seating away from the center-line would not be very comfortable during turns.


Perhaps not. Also when turbulence hits. Wings are supposed to flex during flight.

But some kind of change in the design paradigm of aircraft is due. The cylindrical fuselage model is well played out. I'm not talking about style, but about performance. There are some gains to be made in fuel efficiency and range, still, but the end is near. A new kind of design is needed to make further gains. One that has some history and actual flying models is the blended wing body. Other types, like the lifting body, did not do that well in testing (NASA has tested some really odd ideas in the X planes series.

However, the commercial plane industry is very conservative and very cautious. All new designs, even refinements of older designs, can take more than a decade from first draft to first commercial flight (this includes an ample test flight program). That's why it tends to lag behind technologically from the rest of the world (space travel is even worse in this regard), even while it can also be the epitome of high-tech.

Part of this is driven by public perception, too. Unless your design is sleeker and sexier than previous ones, like the Concorde was, people will look askance at new designs and wonder if they're even capable of taking off.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
November 13th, 2015 at 2:20:37 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Dalex64
Seating away from the center-line would not be very comfortable during turns.



It does look like the economy seats are away from center line. So in addition to no leg room, you have a greater chance of getting sick.
November 15th, 2015 at 3:44:10 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Nareed
About the Concorde much was blamed on the oil shocks after the Yom Kippur War, and the ban on supersonic travel over the US. Some accounts add the increasing importance of transpacific travel and the Concorde's limited range.


Out of respect for happier times in Paris, Great Circle Mapper revived the original routes of the Air France Concorde


I was not aware that Air France flew the Concorde to Mexico City via Washington DC. They would deviate to the Atlantic, and then drop to subsonic for the crossing of Florida.

Nareed, it is 58 days until Air France begins it's A380 service to Mexico City, and the first regularly scheduled A380 service to Latin America! Are you going?

November 15th, 2015 at 4:58:21 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Pacomartin
I was not aware that Air France flew the Concorde to Mexico City via Washington DC. They would deviate to the Atlantic, and then drop to subsonic for the crossing of Florida.


I'm surprised they flew it supersonic at all, even taking a longer route to do so. of course the higher speed offsets the longer route, but the added fuel use, on top of that needed for supersonic flight, must have been considerable.

Quote:
Nareed, it is 58 days until Air France begins it's A380 service to Mexico City, and the first regularly scheduled A380 service to Latin America! Are you going?


Am I going where?
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
November 15th, 2015 at 1:26:58 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Nareed
Am I going where?

To Paris on an A380, of course. For example

Pasajeros 1 Adulto Su cesta 856,70 USD
Martes 8 marzo 21:30 Mexico (MEX) 14:45 París (CDG) 1 Tarifa(s) Economy Total pieza(s) de bodega: 1
Martes 15 marzo 13:30 París (CDG) 18:40 Mexico (MEX) 1 Tarifa(s) Economy Total pieza(s) de bodega: 1