End of the A380?

[Condi]

From memory the Airbus which is parked up is partly owned by a Yorkshire pension fund of all things. Or at least they are one of the investors in the company which bought it initially, to be more correct.

[aeropilot]

red_slr said:

Emirates have no orders and are trying their best to slow down the past orders. They are still due around 45 aircraft. It seems they are operating the A380 on some fairly short haul routes which must be killing their profits.

Probably not if its the short haul routes from ME to Indian sub-continent where a lot of their migrant workers come from, as I suspect, they might be able to nearly fill a A380 in short haul 800+ seat configuration on some of those routes......??

[Europa1]

I did gnash my teeth at the BBC news report on the probable demise of the A380 when the reporter described one of the problems as major airlines choosing Boeing's 787 superjumbo. Ummmm, my understanding of the 787 concept is that's the complete opposite of a superjumbo - relatively small, able to operate from a whole range of airports rather than hub to hub.

[aeropilot]

Europa1 said:

I did gnash my teeth at the BBC news report on the probable demise of the A380 when the reporter described one of the problems as major airlines choosing Boeing's 787 superjumbo. Ummmm, my understanding of the 787 concept is that's the complete opposite of a superjumbo - relatively small, able to operate from a whole range of airports rather than hub to hub.

Since when has a journo ever let the facts get in the way of any news report......

[telecat]

How Long before passengers realise just how crap the 787 is in the most popular Cabin configuration. I would actively avoid it in the 3-3-3 configuration.

[AnotherClarkey]

telecat said:

How Long before passengers realise just how crap the 787 is in the most popular Cabin configuration. I would actively avoid it in the 3-3-3 configuration.

Indeed, a flight in the economy section of a BA 787 is a very cramped and unpleasant experience.

[djc206]

telecat said:

How Long before passengers realise just how crap the 787 is in the most popular Cabin configuration. I would actively avoid it in the 3-3-3 configuration.

It’s crap in terms of seat width in that config but it’s very quiet and with a low cabin altitude which means it’s a fantastic aircraft to fly on in business class and I should imagine first. Let’s face it the major airlines don’t care about economy passengers and most passengers are just happy to get half way around the world for a pittance so I don’t see the situation changing.

The 787 has opened up so many new and interesting routes that’s it’s hard not to love.

[SystemParanoia]

isnt the bombardier more efficient ?

[Gargamel]

AnotherClarkey said:

Indeed, a flight in the economy section of BA is a very cramped and unpleasant experience.

FTFY

[djc206]

SystemParanoia said:

isnt the bombardier more efficient ?

Which bombardier?

[steve-5snwi]

I wish they would use an A380 to the canary islands instead of a poxy 737

[TheGuru]

djc206 said:

The 787 has opened up so many new and interesting routes that’s it’s hard not to love.

I've been flying them for a few years now, all the routes I've been on they are really just replacing A330's and 777's (BKK-NRT, AKL-LAX, SYD-SIN etc)

The new routes that are opened seem to be the horrendously long routes, but a 787 is so uncomfortable I'd actually search out other routes to avoid either the 787 or the long flight time. Perth to London on Qantas for example

[djc206]

TheGuru said:

I've been flying them for a few years now, all the routes I've been on they are really just replacing A330's and 777's (BKK-NRT, AKL-LAX, SYD-SIN etc)

The new routes that are opened seem to be the horrendously long routes, but a 787 is so uncomfortable I'd actually search out other routes to avoid either the 787 or the long flight time. Perth to London on Qantas for example

I’ve flown to New Orleans on one, back from Austin. BA are starting Nashville this year. BA run their 787’s in just over 200 seat configs and the above routes are only about 9 hours so nothing horrendous

That Perth flight sounds like hell!

[hutchst]

aeropilot said:

Probably not if its the short haul routes from ME to Indian sub-continent where a lot of their migrant workers come from, as I suspect, they might be able to nearly fill a A380 in short haul 800+ seat configuration on some of those routes......??

Shortest route is Dubai-Kuwait.

I've flown more than once between Kuwait and Dubai in Emirates business class and been the only BC passenger on the flight, in T7s.

[Krikkit]

Is the 787 less comfortable than the 777?

First long-haul flights in many years this year for me, and we ended up on 2x 777-300ER from UK->Dubai->Vietnam and back, absolutely awful comfort levels. The noise was the worst part by far.

Unfortunately we stupidly went for Birmingham as our fly-out, if we'd gone for LHR we would've been on a 380 instead.

[telecat]

Krikkit said:

Is the 787 less comfortable than the 777?

First long-haul flights in many years this year for me, and we ended up on 2x 777-300ER from UK->Dubai->Vietnam and back, absolutely awful comfort levels. The noise was the worst part by far.

Unfortunately we stupidly went for Birmingham as our fly-out, if we'd gone for LHR we would've been on a 380 instead.

It seems that because Boeing went for a Generous fit of the seats some airlines are seeing the opportunity to fit in another seat. It seems to have started with the 777. Until Passengers realise what the Airlines are doing and start to avoid the affected Planes they will continue to do it.

[Halmyre]

Krikkit said:

Is the 787 less comfortable than the 777?

First long-haul flights in many years this year for me, and we ended up on 2x 777-300ER from UK->Dubai->Vietnam and back, absolutely awful comfort levels. The noise was the worst part by far.

Unfortunately we stupidly went for Birmingham as our fly-out, if we'd gone for LHR we would've been on a 380 instead.

Never been on a 787 but the Etihad 777 I flew on from Abu Dhabi to Manchester was a rotten experience, especially after experiencing a Malaysian A380 on the way out (Heathrow -Kuala Lumpur leg of a flight to Australia). We were 'upstairs' in seats A and C of a 2-4-2 layout, with a handy storage bin to keep stuff in. Unfortunately while we were out there MH-17 was shot out of the sky and we cancelled the return flight and booked with Etihad.

But the 777 was a flying palace compared to the shoddy BA 767 doing a late evening shuttle from Heathrow to Edinburgh!

[TheGuru]

Krikkit said:

Is the 787 less comfortable than the 777?

It’s quieter, but most airlines are squeezing 9 seats in, so the seats are very narrow. On the window seats there is virtually no recess anymore so it can be very tight, can’t even rest your elbow on some planes, or lean in and sleep or rest your head.

[Krikkit]

Ah, sounds like the same issue as the 777 we were on then - fitting 9 seats where 8 would be much, much more comfortable.

Unfortunately it's not easy to find out which airlines are fitting seats that way (no coincidence of course!), otherwise I would avoid and pay the extra for the extra width. It's not worth the ridiculous jump to pay for business class (on our flights it would've taken the flights from a shade under £600 each to over £2k each), but I'd pay £700 for the extra width.

The week after we came back from Vietnam I flew Ryanair from MAN-DUB and it seemed like quiet, peaceful luxury by comparison on a newish 737-800.

[peter tdci]

Krikkit said:

Ah, sounds like the same issue as the 777 we were on then - fitting 9 seats where 8 would be much, much more comfortable.

Unfortunately it's not easy to find out which airlines are fitting seats that way (no coincidence of course!).

Not even on SeatGuru? https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emirates_Airline...

Edit: it looks like only JAL are going to have 2-4-2 economy cabins on their 787s in the long term.

Edited by peter tdci on Wednesday 17th January 14:19