Ever wondered what you can and can't take on a plane? You might be surprised by some of these items. Ever wondered what you can and can't take on a plane? You might be surprised by some of these items.... It’s loved by passengers, loathed by airline executives and feared by accountants. Now, the world’s largest airliner has run out of runway after Airbus decided to close A380 production. MORE: Airbus announces end to production of the A380 superjumbo Production of the jumbo jet will cease in 2021, after its biggest buyers receive their final orders. The decision marks the final act in one of Europe’s greatest industrial adventures, in a move that could affect more than 3500 jobs across the continent. And it could make your future plane journeys a whole lot more cramped with an air steward saying new smaller planes were like a “cattle ship”. After a dozen years of faithful service, what happened? WHY ‘BELOVED’ A380 HAD TO GO The A380 may be widely beloved by passengers, but those on the financial side aren’t so starry-eyed. And a lot of it has to do with the two engines on each wing: The superjumbo model is a four-engine jet in what’s become a twin-engine world, making it too expensive to fuel and maintain. When it was initially in development a plane needed four engines to give it the oomph to cross the Pacific. By the time it first took off, improved two engine planes could do the same feat. While passengers love its size, roominess and its features like airborne bars and showers, that sheer scale means it needed more passengers to make it economical to run. While the 544-seat double decker boasts an impressive capacity, this also means more potentially-unsold seats, which would see the airline take a greater economic hit. Air traffic is growing at a near-record pace but this has mainly generated demand for twin-engined jets nimble enough to fly directly to where people want to travel, rather than bulky four-engined jets forcing passengers to change at hub airports. Less busy routes like Qantas’ new Melbourne to San Francisco flights and United’s Sydney to Houston pair are now possible because smaller twin jets cost less to run and can cross the ocean. And although loyal supporters like top customer Emirates say the huge jet makes money when full, each unsold seat potentially burns a hole in airline finances because of the fuel needed to keep the huge double-decker structure aloft. “It’s an aircraft that frightens airline CFOs. The risk of failing to sell so many seats is just too high,” said a senior aerospace industry source familiar with the program. Talking to news.com.au, an air steward who works on a 787 was frank: “It’s economics — we can pack these (smaller planes) with about 200 passengers whereas on the A380 we’d still have to sell lots of cheap seats and there’d still be some empty.” That means the prospect of nabbing a spare seat to stretch out on could soon be a distant memory, he said. “I’d much rather be working on this flight than be a passenger because I can keep move around. It’s like a cattle ship for the passenger.” CHALLENGES WELL BEFORE TAKE-OFF The A380 has faced economic challenges since its conception. Keep in mind that the $AU35 billion superjumbo took its maiden flight in 2007 — just as the global financial crisis was taking its toll on the world. Passenger traffic declined heavily, costing the industry an estimated two years of growth. Airbus saw it as a replacement for the popular Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Its bet was that airlines would need large four engine aircraft to fly between their busy global hub airports. But Boeing had a different idea, it thought airlines would want smaller more fuel efficient two-engine aircraft, such as its 787-Dreamliner, which could serve hubs as well as smaller destinations. More airlines agreed with Boeing’s vision. So much so, Airbus later produced its smaller A350 aircraft which it has proved to be a far greater success than the A380. While major airlines like Qantas, British Airways, Lufthansa and Korean Air ordered A380s, they never got them in the large numbers Airbus hoped for and saved them for only their busiest routes. Rising fuel costs and the push to drive down carbon emissions came as the final blow to the A380. As for the deep-pocketed US and Japanese airlines, they never warmed to the A380. Not a single American carrier bought one. And while Japan’s ANA has received three A380s it was more a grudge purchase after it bought another airline that had signed up to the superjumbos. Earlier this month, Willie Walsh, the chief executive officer of British Airways’ parent company IAG, said he would consider buying more A380s — but there was a catch. “I’ve no concerns about the A380 … it’s been an excellent aircraft for us. We have made it clear to Airbus that we might consider some additional aircraft,” Mr Walsh said in Dublin. “But the pricing of that aircraft has not been as attractive as we believe it needs to be.” HOW BAD WILL ITS LOSS BE? In economic terms, Bloomberg estimates that — if it’s really “the dinosaur that sales figures suggest” — it won’t really matter that the A380 disappears from the skies. Some insiders worry that Airbus will lose a valuable symbol of pride and commercial audacity when production ends in 2021. Now, airline bosses are seeking assurances that Airbus will support the A380 with spare parts for years to come. Many invested in the A380 as their flagship while airports also spent heavily on new facilities. In the meantime, there’s no need to rush to ride an A380 just yet. Most planes remain in service for at least 20 years meaning there’s a decade left on even the earliest models. Qantas has said it intends to spruce up its 12 A380s this year as part of a midlife refresh, meaning it’s likely the planes will still be ferrying passengers across the globe until well into the 2030s.<doc-sep>Airbus has announced it will end production of its A380 superjumbo passenger jet after failing to secure orders – a move that puts UK jobs at risk. The European aerospace group said it had made the “painful” decision to stop making the world’s largest superjumbo in 2021 after Emirates, the A380’s biggest customer, reduced an outstanding order for 53 planes to only 14. Emirates will instead order 70 of the smaller A330 and A350 aircraft, underlining the trend towards smaller, more efficient aircraft that made the A380 unsustainable. The cancellation of the A380 will affect the jobs of as many as 3,500 Airbus staff, including about 300 at its factory in Broughton, north Wales, which constructs the model’s wings. The Broughton site has about 6,000 employees, while there are another 3,000 in Filton, near Bristol; some of whom work on landing gear and fuel systems for the A380. However, Airbus said a “significant number” of staff will move to production of other, more popular models and major job losses in the UK are not expected as a result of the announcement. Rhys McCarthy, the national officer for aerospace at Unite, said the union is seeking assurances from Airbus that there will be no job losses. He added that companies in the A380 supply chain, including Redditch-based GKN, are a “key concern”. Tom Enders, Airbus’s outgoing chief executive, said the cancellation was “painful for us”. He said: “We have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years.” Speaking at Airbus’s headquarters in Toulouse, France, Enders said the effect on jobs in the UK “needs to be evaluated”. He said: “Hopefully we can reuse and redeploy a significant number of employees there. “What we’re seeing here is the end of the large, four-engine aircraft,” said Enders, who admitted that the company was a decade late in developing the superjumbo. Boeing, Airbus’s American arch-rival, this month celebrated 50 years of production of its 747. Engines for the A380 are produced in Derby by Rolls-Royce, another major British aerospace employer, although it is thought that the effect on UK jobs numbers will be small. In a statement, Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce’s civil aerospace president, said: “The A380 is a world-class feat of engineering, much loved by passengers, and we are obviously saddened that deliveries will come to an end.” Airbus said that more than 190 million passengers have flown in the A380 since the first plane rolled off the assembly line in Toulouse, France, in 2007. However, the plane, which can theoretically carry as many as 800 passengers, has struggled for profitability as demand for mid-sized jets boomed. Airbus, which on Thursday also announced stronger than expected profits for 2018, is planning to ramp up production of its smaller models even as the A380 winds down. It is targeting between 880 and 890 deliveries of aircraft to its customers during 2019, a 10% increase from its record haul of 800 in 2018. However, the A380 cancellation will add another element of uncertainty for the future of UK operations already threatened by the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Enders last month decried “Brexiteers’ madness”, saying that future investment decisions would be influenced if Brexit led to significant trade frictions. Guardian business email sign-up Enders on Thursday said he believed the “voices of reason” would prevail, avoiding a no-deal Brexit. In June last year Airbus said there would be a cost of €1bn (about £880m) for every week of delay in production. The company and its suppliers have built up buffer stocks of about €1bn, in line with estimates made in June. Enders said: “Looking at the situation as it is I’m still optimistic that a solution can be found that avoids a fall from a cliff.” The end of the A380 may free up space at Airbus’s Toulouse and Hamburg facilities, where final assembly is currently carried out, giving them a boost in the competition for business with the UK. However, Enders denied reports that Spain had made a formal offer to take wing production from the UK after Brexit. The end of the A380 comes at a crucial time for Airbus as it takes on a new leadership team after losing out to Boeing in the aircraft deliveries race in 2018. Guillaume Faury, a former helicopter engineer who became the president of Airbus’s commercial aircraft business in February 2018, will take over from Enders as chief executive in April. Faury said the risks from Brexit were “enormous” in both the short and long term, with the principal risk to Airbus coming in delays at the UK’s border with the rest of the EU.<doc-sep>"Emirates has been a staunch supporter of the A380 since its very inception," said the airlines' chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum. "While we are disappointed to have to give up our order, and sad that the programme could not be sustained, we accept that this is the reality of the situation," he added.<doc-sep>TOULOUSE, France — Since a solo flight by the Wright brothers on the shore of North Carolina more than a century ago, the size of airplanes has gone in one direction — up. But the era of ever larger jets, and the romantic idea of continent-hopping travel they inspired, came to an unofficial end with the announcement by Airbus on Thursday that it plans to cease production of the A380, the largest passenger airliner ever built. An engineering marvel expansive enough for showers and sleekly designed bars, the planes hark back to the age when flying had glamour. The four engines are powerful enough to reach cruising altitude in roughly 15 minutes, all the while keeping noise to a tolerable hum. There are fan clubs for the A380 on both Twitter and Facebook. But for years, the jet has been far more popular with passengers than airlines. When it debuted in 2005, the A380 was a bet that the future of air travel was big planes flying between major hubs, followed by connectors to final destinations. Instead, the dominant trend became smaller planes and direct flights. Dropping $445 million for a jet — the A380’s list price — that can carry more than 500 people made little economic sense, especially as budget airlines cropped up as competition.<doc-sep>
Airbus has blamed weak sales for its decision to scrap production of the A380 superjumbo - the world's largest airliner. The European aerospace giant confirmed on Thursday it would deliver the final aircraft, with its two decks of cabins and room for 544 passengers, in 2021. Following months of speculation over the plane's future, Airbus said it had taken the decision after Emirates scaled back an order for A380s - choosing instead to focus on smaller planes. Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said: "As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. Image: An Airbus A380 flies over the Paris Air Show "This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021. The consequences of this decision are largely embedded in our 2018 full-year results." They showed losses of £788m from the A380 programme, with the hugely delayed A400M military transporter plane also putting a dent in profits. Nevertheless, Airbus said it made £2.7bn in overall net profits - a jump of 29% on the previous year. Shares jumped by 6% in early deals following the announcements. Mr Enders said the A380 decision marked "the end of the large four-engine aircraft" in global aviation. The company said it planned talks with unions over the potential for harm to up to 3,500 jobs connected to the superjumbo, which is assembled in France. Image: A security guard stands at the entrance to Airbus' wing assembly plant at Broughton, near Chester The Unite union said it was seeking assurances over any impact on the UK workforce, which Mr Enders told reporters was yet to be evaluated. Airbus makes wings for the A380 in the UK - employing 6,000 staff at Broughton and 3,000 at Filton. The firm said an increase in production of its A320 model would offer "a significant number of internal mobility opportunities" - but Brexit could also form part of the decision-making process. The chief executive warned last month in a company video it could move operations abroad in the event of hard Brexit "madness". The company later admitted to Sky News that Downing Street had asked it to make clear the impact of a no-deal scenario. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Airbus: No 10 asked us make 'no deal' impact clear The A380 was first launched 14 years ago as a challenger to fierce rival Boeing's 747 jumbo jet but its popularity has struggled to take off. Emirates said it was "disappointed" to give up its order - citing new plane and engine technology - leaving just 14 superjumbos in the production pipeline for the Middle East carrier as it opted to pick up a total of 70 of the smaller A350 and A330neo models instead. The airline said it planned to keep flying the A380 well into the 2030s and Airbus confirmed the planes would continue to be supported. Just one other airline has A380s on order, with Japan's ANA due to have three delivered. Air industry expert, Professor Andreas Wittmer from the University of St. Gallen, commented: "From our research we know that A380 was well perceived by passengers. "Furthermore, its fuel consumption per pax (person) was low. "But based on its whole weight and the four engines it was not efficient enough. "New engines and a lighter version of the A380 would have been needed. But the A380 was not break even taking into account the whole planning and production set up costs."