But the segment has an outsized impact on revenue. Say a business class ticket for a transatlantic flight is 5x an economy and a first class ticket is 10x an economy. And the plane, of course, is largely fixed costs.
The business seats on a plane make more money than the economy seats. However, there aren't lines where you can fill a whole plane of business: economy is there mostly to fill up space
There are some, but they're very rare. One example is the BA shuttle between London City and New York - only business. I believe there is a French airline doing a "cheap business" Paris-New York as well.
But the segment has an outsized impact on revenue. Say a business class ticket for a transatlantic flight is 5x an economy and a first class ticket is 10x an economy. And the plane, of course, is largely fixed costs.
I agree it is a fixed cost, but the initial cost is expensive by itself before we consider the cost for maintenance. Also 5x for economy is really expensive, I highly doubt that many customers would want this 380 experience for 5x of econ. Airbus 380 is ideal for long distance, then 5*800 from NY to Asia would be too damn expensive: then why not first-class on non-380?
I think you misunderstood the parent. They are saying that business is 5x economy, not the A380.
Boeing played the market correctly here. When everyone was oohing over the A380 Boeing said super jumbos were on their way out and focused on the 787. If it hadn’t been for Emirates buying so many A380s to begin with it would have been a flop from the start (Emirates alone operates almost half of the A380s ever built). The future in long haul is mid-size highly efficient twin engine jets and here Airbus is scrambling…
> The future in long haul is mid-size highly efficient twin engine jets and here Airbus is scrambling to catch up with Boeing in both sales and design I agree with your first paragraph, but not at all sure about this. Current air transportation is very stratified, but some of its numerous rules could get a major rework in the next N years (N >= 10). Current setup has mid-size sweetspot when optimized on existing rule…
It’s actually the airlines dragging their feet on a lot of this, not “30 year old ATC.” Many airlines don’t upgrade their planes to have the latest equipment. Flew in a small personal plane with a friend that’s a pilot and he was explaining how in several areas his small plane has more advanced avionics than commercial airliners. For example, his plane is certified to fly the latest 3D GPS based landing approaches while many commercial airliners still don’t have the necessary equipment onboard.
Boeing played the market correctly here. When everyone was oohing over the A380 Boeing said super jumbos were on their way out and focused on the 787. If it hadn’t been for Emirates buying so many A380s to begin with it would have been a flop from the start (Emirates alone operates almost half of the A380s ever built). The future in long haul is mid-size highly efficient twin engine jets and here Airbus is scrambling…
Or could it be a ploy to scare Emirates into making a big purchase, because they don't want to be the only company shouldering the support costs for a class of airplane?
Too bad it's struggling: A380 won't go anywhere overnight but in comparison 747 was in production for decades. Compared to 747 and many other wide-body aircraft it's a wonderful plane. Sitting on the second deck gets you by far the quietest flight even in economy.
I think that for airlines that want to differentiate on comfort/quality, the A380 is a must-have: You can pimp up the interior of a 787 as much as you want, it will never be as comfortable as what you can do with an A380 (see my other comment on the Emirates A380). However this segment probably isn't big enough to justify such an expensive production line... @frik - for some reason you are "dead" - no-one can see you…
I cannot upvote you enough, it's true. A380 is in its own league, super comfortable, super low noise. No 747, 777 or 787 can match the comfort. They are noisier, or have downsides.
Exactly, when flying economy I always try to get an A380. 747 is the most painful plane there is in economy.
I don't think they're scrambling. The A350 is their 787 competitor and looks amazing. Can't wait to try it out.
Um, there’s 5 787s flying around for every A350. On the future book Boeing also has around 50% more 787 orders than Airbus has A350. So yeah, I’d call that being a bit behind in that market segment.