How exactly does the market for aeroplanes operate? Is there a Craigslist for superjumbos?
Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
21–30 of 58 posts
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#22Here's some insight: The recent deregulation worldwide has sparked a huge increase in the # of low-cost airlines, resulting in a spreading out of passenger load across airlines. Therefore, there aren't as many passengers to carry per airline as before, and A380s and even B747s are no longer needed. In fact, all of the U.S. airlines (Delta, United, American, and smaller ones) are either phasing out or parked all of th…
Four engine aircrafts are also more difficult/expensive to maintain. Most pilots prefer two engines.
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#23So what are the reasons (in short)? The article is behind a paywall.
> The A380’s size has become its disadvantage as airlines prefer relatively smaller planes such as the Airbus A350 and rival Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner that can fly nonstop to their ultimate destinations, bypassing major hubs such as London Heathrow and Singapore’s Changi Airport. (Range seems odd to me as a factor, as Wikipedia thinks the Dreamliner and the A380 have the same max range.)
[deleted]
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#24It looks like SQ is going all-in on the A350 to expand their list of destinations.
I am looking forward to the restart of their SIN-NYC nonstop[0] on the A350-900ULR. The discontinued A340-based flight was out of my price range at the time, so I never had a chance to fly it. I did fly the (also discontinued) Thai Airways JFK-BKK once—it was neat to get on a plane in NYC and get off in Southeast Asia.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Airlines_Flight_21
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#25tl;dr The plane is too big (600 seats) and airlines are concerned that it is/would be too hard to fill all the seats. I was hoping for some interesting manufacturing quirks or something :/
TLDR: building airliners is an iterative learning-process like writing software. Best to avoid v1.0
> I was hoping for some interesting manufacturing quirks or something
The first five A380s that SIA received on lease from Doric, of which this is one, are very early production airframes[0] and are noticable heavier and less efficient than the later 14. SIA have talked about this on several occasions, it's no different to Boeing's 'terrible teens' 787s that are less desirable than later production examples and which will probably suffer the same fate.
They also have five more A380s on order, so if they drop the lease on the other four oldest airframes then their A380 fleet will remain static. But that's not as exciting a headline.
[0] construction numbers 003, 005, 006, 008 and 010. Their most recent in service is 092, for contrast, and 243, 247, 251, 253 and 255 are on the production schedule for them.
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The A380’s size has become its disadvantage as airlines prefer relatively smaller planes such as the Airbus A350 and rival Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner that can fly nonstop to their ultimate destinations, bypassing major hubs such as London Heathrow and Singapore’s Changi Airport. (Range seems odd to me as a factor, as Wikipedia thinks the Dreamliner and the A380 have the same max range.)
The range is important because historically, small jets had comparatively short ranges. The pattern used to be to use small jets as feeders to major hubs. The large jets would fly between the major hubs. Now, with small jets having greater range, you can send flights direct bypassing the major hub. There is not enough traffic on the route to warrant a large jet, however, so smaller jets with the same range are prefer…
Presumably doing so frees up landing slots at the major hubs and saves on expensive landing fees and operating costs at those larger airports.
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#27So what are the reasons (in short)? The article is behind a paywall.
General Aviation Pilot here - one thing they also leave out is the relaxation on the rules for overwater flight with 2 engines. Prior to the change, it was harder to fly oceanic routes as you had to fly way north to ensure that your nearest airport in case of engine loss was no more than X distance away. With the changes in reliability for engines, they have relaxed that rule which has made 2 engine flights (notable…
Doesn't ETOPS vastly predate the A380? I don't think it's really that relevant, other than in a general sense. To put this in context, ETOPS is what killed MD11 development in the 1980's.
The A380 was proposed well after etops-120 was widely utilized by airlines, and etops-180 was announced in 1988 with airlines taking advantage of it relatively quickly. These were certainly were not new unexpected market conditions the aircraft faced after production.
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#28So what are the reasons (in short)? The article is behind a paywall.
> The A380’s size has become its disadvantage as airlines prefer relatively smaller planes such as the Airbus A350 and rival Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner that can fly nonstop to their ultimate destinations, bypassing major hubs such as London Heathrow and Singapore’s Changi Airport. (Range seems odd to me as a factor, as Wikipedia thinks the Dreamliner and the A380 have the same max range.)
The problem with an A380/jumbojet is that it's hard to fill up with passengers. Any jumbo flight has to be between two major end destinations or between two transit points. Since direct flights are replacing flights via transit points the market for A380s is shrinking.
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#29So sad. The A380 is my absolutely favourite plane and I usually go out of my way to fly it. It's so smooth and relaxing to be on.
Smoother/quieter than the 787? I haven't been on either but thought that the bleedless engines and everything-electrical would make for a quieter ride.
Re: Singapore Airlines Won’t Extend Lease on First Airbus A380 Jet
#30So sad. The A380 is my absolutely favourite plane and I usually go out of my way to fly it. It's so smooth and relaxing to be on.
Same here. I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable that A380 was, both in economy and business. I was a big fan of Boeing 777s before. I hope Emirates continues to fly it. I highly recommend the business class experience on A380s, it is amazing when you are on a long haul flight.