Link to previous thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=581209

The final ex-Skymark white tail, MSN 162, finished refurbishment and will be ferried to XFW in the coming weeks.


Msn162 F-WWSL 4/1/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

Has Airbus given any thought to reviving the A380 freighter as a way to jump start the program?

The final A380 production thread?

Matt6461 wrote:

The final A380 production thread?

Definitely no.

Sooner787 wrote:

Has Airbus given any thought to reviving the A380 freighter as a way to jump start the program?

Well - jump start - no. But yes, a freighter version was part of the original plan.
From http://www.aerospace-technology.com/pro ... rbus_a380/

"Corporate authorisation was announced in December 1999 for the production phases for both the passenger and freighter versions of the aircraft."
...
The first freighters will be delivered in 2012. 25 firm orders had been received for the freighter version: Federal Express (ten plus ten options), ILFC (five) and UPS (ten plus ten options)."
...
However, in November 2006, Federal Express announced the cancellation of its order, citing delays in delivery dates as the cause, and LFC has changed its order to the passenger version. The future of the A380F is therefore uncertain.

------
Never happened, unlikely to happen now. There are reasons why the A380 is not optimal for freight. Has to do with volume/weight ratios.

Sooner787 wrote:

Has Airbus given any thought to reviving the A380 freighter as a way to jump start the program?

I expect they have given it thought, but there is no market for it. UPS has ordered the 747-8F and FedEx the 777F so both now have aircraft that fill the roles (payload for 5X and range for FX) that they originally planned on having the A380-800F fill.

MSN 253 SQ #23 first & ferry flight to XFW today.

https://fr24.com/AIB01AB/10092bec


F-WWAB by @Eurospot, on Flickr

Financial Times in UK suggests possible A380 orders from China as part of an overall industrial partnership deal with China. AB and China already in close cooperation with a joint production facility. Could be a useful move and may help address EK concerns in gaining assurances on the production programme over next decade!

BOAC1966 wrote:

Financial Times in UK suggests possible A380 orders from China as part of an overall industrial partnership deal with China. AB and China already in close cooperation with a joint production facility. Could be a useful move and may help address EK concerns in gaining assurances on the production programme over next decade!

It will at least reduce production costs a little, which can only help given low production volumes.

BOAC1966 wrote:

Financial Times in UK suggests possible A380 orders from China as part of an overall industrial partnership deal with China.

Unless CAAC allows whomever gets it to operate them from PEK and PVG, I expect they'll be as ineffective as the A380 has been for CZ from CAN. And if CAAC does allow them to operate from PEK, that is going to have an impact on the other national carriers I expect. And I expect CX will not be happy to see Chinese carrier A380s at PVG.

For the record, we have a new thread on the A380 Chinese Initiative at viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1383103 so we can move this discussion there.

MSN 257 tail fin has arrived in TLS.


Tail Fin msn257 10/1/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

No real news but I just read on http://www.abcdlist.nl/a380f/a380f.html that parts for ANA's first two A380's have already been built (MSN 262 and 263).

ANA will introduce the A380 on its route between Narita International Airport and Honolulu in spring 2019...

Some fuselage parts have been spotted in XFW. Lead time can be as high as 12-18 months.

KarelXWB wrote:

Some fuselage parts have been spotted in XFW. Lead time can be as high as 12-18 months.

And you didn't post a picture!?!?!? Just kidding... it's really time to see something else than EK-tailfins...

Former Skymark MSN 162 has been on the move today.


Run msn162 F-WWSL 17/1/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

MSN232 to be EK A6-EUR on her 12th test flight

https://twitter.com/a380fanclub/status/ ... 8260833280

MSN 162 has been ferried to XFW for cabin fit and paint. This was the final ex-Skymark NTU A380 in TLS.


Ferry Flight msn162 F-WWSL 23/1/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

MSN 247 arriving at TLS with storage reg as F-WJKG : Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-841 cn 247 F-WJKG // 9V-SKV by Clément Alloing, sur Flickr

MSN 247 will be delivered from TLS, just like it happened with MSN 243. Hence the ferry flight.

Singapore Airlines A388 9V-SKV has been delivered

https://twitter.com/FlightIntl/status/9 ... 9499209728

qf789 wrote:

Singapore Airlines A388 9V-SKV has been delivered

https://twitter.com/FlightIntl/status/9 ... 9499209728

Excuse my ignorance, - I lost track of the SIA deliveries:

Was this the second - in the second batch of 5 ?

KR/Airboe

Correct, only 3 more left.

Fuselage sections for Emirates MSN 258 have arrived in TLS.


Convoy1 6/2/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

What's the status of the NH's A380's?

MSN 248 EK has been pulled out of storage and is being prepared for its ferry flight to XFW.


Msn248 F-WWSK 9/2/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

2 questions Karel (if I may), the Skylark Frames taken by ANA will they be configured as super high density? and I see a lot of engineless neos, is the engine backlog as bad as it looks? (sorry for derailment of the thread).

Best Regards
TRB

TheRedBaron wrote:

2 questions Karel (if I may), the Skylark Frames taken by ANA will they be configured as super high density? and I see a lot of engineless neos, is the engine backlog as bad as it looks? (sorry for derailment of the thread).

Best Regards
TRB

The two Skymark frames built is going to Emirates
ANA gets new builts

Someone83 wrote:

TheRedBaron wrote:

2 questions Karel (if I may), the Skylark Frames taken by ANA will they be configured as super high density? and I see a lot of engineless neos, is the engine backlog as bad as it looks? (sorry for derailment of the thread).

Best Regards
TRB

The two Skymark frames built is going to Emirates
ANA gets new builts

And that would be when ?

ANA deliveries are scheduled in 2019. We way see the first A380 going into final assembly in the next 6 months or so.

I wonder if QR will ever persue in ordering more frames. As the last frame will be completed shortly.

MSN 255 SQ #24 has been ferried to XFW for cabin fit and paint.


Ferry Flight msn255 F-WWAM 13/2/2018 by A380_TLS_A350, on Flickr

Information provided by CEO Enders concerning the annual production rates:
2018: 12
2019: 8
starting from 2020: 6/a

By this production is "safe" until 2025.

Information provided by CEO Enders concerning the annual production rates:
2018: 12
2019: 8
starting from 2020: 6/a
By this production is "safe" until 2025.

Still crossing my fingers for a couple top-ups like the rumored BA order, so that ramp down looks more like 12-10-8-8-6. In any case the program is secured.

These production rates have been know for a while, I believe Tom Enders just reconfirmed the numbers today.

KarelXWB wrote:

These production rates have been know for a while, I believe Tom Enders just reconfirmed the numbers today.

I guess the news is that they haven’t gone up, despite the recent Emirates order.

Geoff

N14AZ wrote:

Information provided by CEO Enders concerning the annual production rates:
2018: 12
2019: 8
starting from 2020: 6/a

By this production is "safe" until 2025.

Delivery rates do not have to match production rates. Airbus has quite a stock of frames undelivered to Emirates. so we could see higher delivery rates for 2018, 2019 and even 2020. The rate from 2020 is also dependent on no further orders for A380 being received, even firming the 16 options of Emirates could move rate 6 further out.

As I understand it, anticipated deliveries for 2018 currently stand at a total of 14 aircraft.
Comprising 10 Emirates, 3 Singapore and 1 Qatar.

Regards
b

beenalongtime wrote:

As I understand it, anticipated deliveries for 2018 currently stand at a total of 14 aircraft.
Comprising 10 Emirates, 3 Singapore and 1 Qatar.

Regards
b

When do ANA start rolling off? Sometime early next year?

I assume so, don't know when though. I believe the first major aircraft parts are due in final assembly shortly.

Regards
b

audidudi wrote:

Arion640 wrote:

beenalongtime wrote:

As I understand it, anticipated deliveries for 2018 currently stand at a total of 14 aircraft.
Comprising 10 Emirates, 3 Singapore and 1 Qatar.

Regards
b

When do ANA start rolling off? Sometime early next year?

Read reply #31 above.

Thanks - that's me being hasty and not reading.

MSN 167 ex-Skymark emerged from cabin fit & paint in XFW.


A380 Emitates A6-EVA by Tobias Gudat, on Flickr

In https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ir-445983/ we get confirmation from the CEO that producing six A380s per year will be loss making:

Speaking at a results briefing in Toulouse yesterday, chief executive Tom Enders said the rate of six aircraft represented a "minimum" volume at which production could be maintained with a "reasonable level of efficiency".

He adds: "It doesn't mean we are still making money on that, but the losses that such a low rate would produce are certainly digestible."

So now we can add "digestible" to our vocabulary to describe A380 losses, along with "not material".

Of course, actual numbers would be helpful.

The CFO says:

Wilhelm suggests that additional savings can be made to keep losses under control as production is being further reduced. "The efficiencies don't end here," he says.

Note there is no suggestion of break-even or small profit.

CEO Enders admits some customers might drop out of the backlog, but pushes back when challenged:

When asked how many aircraft he expected to be delivered from the existing order backlog – Airbus in January listed 95 orders for the A380 – Enders responded: "I can't exclude that one or two customers might drop out of that."

But noting that Emirates' orders represent the bulk of the backlog, he insists that "clearly at least the majority" of it will be delivered. He adds: "Backlog is not something lofty. Backlog is where people have put serious money down. This is an audited backlog. These are firm orders."

Using numbers from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A3 ... deliveries the backlog is 337-222=115, so he's saying at least 58 will be delivered, but of course EK's backlog alone would cover that, so he's not saying much, IMHO.

The final assembly of the 1st #A380 for @FlyANA_Official is starting! Its main sections have just arrived at the final assembly line in Toulouse. Watch out for updates! #FLYINGHONU

Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/Airbus/statu ... ite=aerode

Seems a great pity that the very marked performance improvements associated with the 350/330/320 series haven't cascaded into the A380 within Airbus. STC pleas ignored. I appreciate size and low production inhibits improvements yet this airframe despite being 1990s in design could have developed and matured. Yes ETOPs eliminated one great plus(competitive advantage)but werent there many others to be built upon?

Pictures of MSN 262 NH #1 have been released today.