747400sp From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 3301 posts, RR: 2 Posted (4 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 2877 times:
I know that both the A380 800F and 900 will not come up until around 2014, but do you see an A380 900F down the line? Such an a/c would carry more package cargo than any other jet ( except the AN 225). So if Airbus was to make the A380 900 body stronger and RR increase the Trent 900 power, so it could be in the 90000 thrust class, could there be a market for an A380 900F?
Starlionblue From Hong Kong, joined Feb 2004, 15871 posts, RR: 66 Reply 1, posted (4 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 2874 times:
Technically it is probably well within the limits of feasibility. Whether there is a market for it is a good question. The 380 isn't the best cargo carrier.
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - from Citadel by John Ringo
Astuteman From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2005, 9139 posts, RR: 96 Reply 2, posted (4 years 6 months 2 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 2825 times:
Quoting 747400sp (Thread starter): So if Airbus was to make the A380 900 body stronger and RR increase the Trent 900 power, so it could be in the 90000 thrust class, could there be a market for an A380 900F?
I'm not sure why they would want to do that. The currnet Trent 900 is certified at 84 000lb, which is ample for MTOW's up to 625 tonnes (although I suppose the c. 650 tonnes that 90 000lb would allow would be even better for the stretched freighter )
I suspect it would require too many other changes, sadly.
Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 1): Technically it is probably well within the limits of feasibility. Whether there is a market for it is a good question. The 380 isn't the best cargo carrier.
It's undoubtedly feasible. It would make a package hauler par-excellence (F5 have made it quite clear this is the A380F they want..). But would it find a wider marlet?
I think Airbus WILL bring an A380F back to the table, but my money would be on a 625 tonne MTOW A380-800F, lifting at least 180 tonnes, and possibly more.
The A380-800 pax offers some 30%+ more passenger capacity than the 748i, making it highly effective, and desirable in that market. The original A380F only sports about a 10% payload advantage over the 748F, which, IMO is not enough to offset the higher fuel burn, unless the cargo is volume limited, not weight limited.
The shift to 180 tonnes payload would address this.
If it were me, I'd wait until we see THIS version of the A380F launched, and then ask the question again..
The A380-800F was density limited...that's great for package freight but not much else. And when you're talking about package freight that large, you're down to a very small number of customers to start with. Make it even bigger, and the number of aircraft you need drops further...you'd be eating your own market, in terms of frames sold.
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