Airbus scraps A380 superjumbo jet as sales slump

Airbus scraps A380 superjumbo jet as sales slump

Quote:

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has pulled the plug on its struggling A380 superjumbo, which entered service just 12 years ago. Airbus said last deliveries of the world's largest passenger aircraft, which cost about $25bn (£19.4bn) to develop, would be made in 2021.

This is not a huge surprise, but I still a little bit surprised. I knew the 380 production was in jeopardy, but I figured that Airbus had enough political leverage within the EU to get the EU member nations to apply some political pressure to get some outside nations to buy a few more. After all, these big aircraft are prestige items, and these big aircraft corporations are almost quasi-national in the scope of the contracts they have with governments.

Meanwhile, the 747 production line manages to keep limping along, but only because the 747 is better suited for cargo.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2N7ROMj