Emirates Retiring A380s Already

[48k]

Surprised to read that Emirates is retiring A380s to bastardise them for parts for an upcoming major A380 fleet overhaul because it's cheaper than buying replacement parts.

It feels like the aircraft hasn't been around very long and it's already on the decline which is a shame but understandable I guess - Emirates are probably the only operator for whom the aircraft makes sense any more

[Gargamel]

Passengers seem to like them, but the economics don’t stack up.

I suspect four engine planes are likely to be phased out of civil aviation.

The upper deck of an A380 is a lovely place to be for a long flight, just feels very comfortable and smooth.

[djc206]

Gargamel said:

Passengers seem to like them, but the economics don’t stack up.

I suspect four engine planes are likely to be phased out of civil aviation.

The upper deck of an A380 is a lovely place to be for a long flight, just feels very comfortable and smooth.

I concur.

My dad flies back and forth to Dubai regularly and the flights are invariably full so there’s clearly still a home for them on flights like that especially with a significant business class demand (76 business and 14 first seats on emirates).

Twins are definitely the future

[XJSJohn]

djc206 said:

Gargamel said:

Passengers seem to like them, but the economics don’t stack up.

I suspect four engine planes are likely to be phased out of civil aviation.

The upper deck of an A380 is a lovely place to be for a long flight, just feels very comfortable and smooth.

I concur.

My dad flies back and forth to Dubai regularly and the flights are invariably full so there’s clearly still a home for them on flights like that especially with a significant business class demand (76 business and 14 first seats on emirates).

Twins are definitely the future

do like 380's for long haul, will be on one of Emirate's finest double deckers next week heading home.

They have been flying them for 10 years now, so i guess time for them to retire / hand back lease / sell on some of the old stock.

Seems a bit odd to "break them for parts" but if thats what is economically viable then i guess thats the way.

the first Emirates 380's (as with SQ) will have racked up a fair few airmiles by now i would have thought

[48k]

XJSJohn said:

djc206 said:

Gargamel said:

Passengers seem to like them, but the economics don’t stack up.

I suspect four engine planes are likely to be phased out of civil aviation.

The upper deck of an A380 is a lovely place to be for a long flight, just feels very comfortable and smooth.

I concur.

My dad flies back and forth to Dubai regularly and the flights are invariably full so there’s clearly still a home for them on flights like that especially with a significant business class demand (76 business and 14 first seats on emirates).

Twins are definitely the future

do like 380's for long haul, will be on one of Emirate's finest double deckers next week heading home.

They have been flying them for 10 years now, so i guess time for them to retire / hand back lease / sell on some of the old stock.

Seems a bit odd to "break them for parts" but if thats what is economically viable then i guess thats the way.

the first Emirates 380's (as with SQ) will have racked up a fair few airmiles by now i would have thought

Not really, IMO. 10 years is no age for a long haul airliner. 20+ years is not uncommon (I think the oldest 747 has been in service 30 years). It's pressurisation cycles that do for them rather than physical age which is why long haul tend to last longer than short haul.

[alangla]

Are these actual production planes or are they pre-production ones like the Singapore ones that went off-lease?
Apparently the equivalent Dreamliners at Boeing went straight to the scrappy without ever being used for real flights.

[XJSJohn]

48k said:

XJSJohn said:

djc206 said:

Gargamel said:

Passengers seem to like them, but the economics don’t stack up.

I suspect four engine planes are likely to be phased out of civil aviation.

The upper deck of an A380 is a lovely place to be for a long flight, just feels very comfortable and smooth.

I concur.

My dad flies back and forth to Dubai regularly and the flights are invariably full so there’s clearly still a home for them on flights like that especially with a significant business class demand (76 business and 14 first seats on emirates).

Twins are definitely the future

do like 380's for long haul, will be on one of Emirate's finest double deckers next week heading home.

They have been flying them for 10 years now, so i guess time for them to retire / hand back lease / sell on some of the old stock.

Seems a bit odd to "break them for parts" but if thats what is economically viable then i guess thats the way.

the first Emirates 380's (as with SQ) will have racked up a fair few airmiles by now i would have thought

Not really, IMO. 10 years is no age for a long haul airliner. 20+ years is not uncommon (I think the oldest 747 has been in service 30 years). It's pressurisation cycles that do for them rather than physical age which is why long haul tend to last longer than short haul.

was thinking more along the lines of "time for emirates as a top tier (so they say) airline to start rotating the stock"

I know that with other stuff the big carriers usually pass planes on to second tier airlines etc until they end up hacking around Africa.

Although that cant really happen with the 380 as it can only realistically fly in and out of a few specific terminals and gates within those terminals.

[motomk]

XJSJohn said:

was thinking more along the lines of "time for emirates as a top tier (so they say) airline to start rotating the stock"

I know that with other stuff the big carriers usually pass planes on to second tier airlines etc until they end up hacking around Africa.

Although that cant really happen with the 380 as it can only realistically fly in and out of a few specific terminals and gates within those terminals.

Singapore Airlines do a similar thing, retire aircraft after 10-15 or so years.

[williamp]

Their website says

"....Airbus’ backlog of jetliners remaining to be delivered as of 31 August stood at 7,172 aircraft. The single-aisle total was composed of 5,810 A320 Family jetliners and 428 A220s; while the wide-body tally involved 613 A350 XWBs, 270 A330s and 51 A380s..."

So they are still selling. I wonder at what point they start making a profit on the aircraft?

[48k]

williamp said:

Their website says

"....Airbus’ backlog of jetliners remaining to be delivered as of 31 August stood at 7,172 aircraft. The single-aisle total was composed of 5,810 A320 Family jetliners and 428 A220s; while the wide-body tally involved 613 A350 XWBs, 270 A330s and 51 A380s..."

So they are still selling. I wonder at what point they start making a profit on the aircraft?

Airbus are stopping production of the A380 in 2021 following a lot of cancelled orders - Emirates downsized their outstanding order of 53 to 14 for example. So I guess that's why Emirates are retiring planes and using them for parts rather than buying parts as there's going to come a point where the manufacturer isnt going to make the parts any more.

[Otispunkmeyer]

I need to find somewhere to go so I can go on one! It'll have been introduced and retired without me ever going on one! I remember seeing the first flight demo on YT! It doesn't feel that long ago.

I thought I would get to go on one on my trip to Vietnam. But went on a new A350 instead (which is nice I have to say, very quiet).

[djc206]

Otispunkmeyer said:

I need to find somewhere to go so I can go on one! It'll have been introduced and retired without me ever going on one! I remember seeing the first flight demo on YT! It doesn't feel that long ago.

I thought I would get to go on one on my trip to Vietnam. But went on a new A350 instead (which is nice I have to say, very quiet).

Emirates are currently planning to keep them running until 2035 so there’s not too much of a rush

[Equilibrium25]

Otispunkmeyer said:

I need to find somewhere to go so I can go on one! It'll have been introduced and retired without me ever going on one! I remember seeing the first flight demo on YT! It doesn't feel that long ago.

I thought I would get to go on one on my trip to Vietnam. But went on a new A350 instead (which is nice I have to say, very quiet).

Go to Singapore, in either PE or Business :-) Easy to pick A380 flights on SQ.

[The Mad Monk]

Gargamel said:

The upper deck of an A380 is a lovely place to be for a long flight, just feels very comfortable and smooth.

And it keeps the rif raff out.

[djc206]

The Mad Monk said:

And it keeps the rif raff out.

Some airlines allow the riff raft to sit up top, I think even emirates do on their high density A380’s!

[IanUAE]

The A380 (Emirates) is my preferred plane when I am flying to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Singapore & Saudi Arabia. In fact I am on one tomorrows DXB-JNB flight.

[alangla]

djc206 said:

Some airlines allow the riff raft to sit up top, I think even emirates do on their high density A380’s!

BA allow peasants on the upper deck. I’d booked to come back from Washington up there a couple of years ago, but it got swapped for a 747 a couple of months out & on the day a 777 turned up. Talk about disappointment...

[hammo19]

We sit up top on Virgins 747 transatlantic flights and everyone seems very pleasant......never encountered any riff-raff. Maybe we are too riff-raff ourselves to notice.

[ukaskew]

I booked my LHR - Hong Kong flight time (with BA) specifically to go on the top deck of the A380, they swapped it to a 777 a few weeks before, there and back!

Gutted, don't get to do long haul too much any more so limited opportunities to try it out.

[SVX]

I've been on the top deck of an A380 a couple of times, its rather a nice place to be, compared to my recent 747-8 experience. It's a shame they're shutting down the line. I suspect that the hull design could be converted into a great cargo hauler.