Emirates Offers A380 a Lifeline, Signing $16 Billion Deal With Airbus
- 6 years ago
Emirates Offers A380 a Lifeline, Signing $16 Billion Deal With Airbus
The agreement, which includes a firm commitment to buy 20 aircraft
and an option for 16 more, comes just days after Airbus said it would end production of the A380 if it did not receive more orders.
The deal announced on Thursday gave Airbus some respite — the company needs six
to eight orders a year to ensure it can continue to manufacture the A380
But the bet on the four-engine plane turned out to be a financial disaster for Airbus as the industry increasingly used smaller airports, a shift
that favored its main competitor, Boeing, and other manufacturers of midsize aircraft.
The number of planes that can land at an airport on a given day is limited, the European company argued, so the
A380, with the capacity to carry more than 500 passengers, would allow airlines to transport more passengers.
The Dubai-based airline Emirates threw a lifeline on Thursday to the A380, the world’s largest passenger
aircraft, putting in a $16 billion order for up to 36 of the planes to be delivered starting from 2020.
The agreement, which includes a firm commitment to buy 20 aircraft
and an option for 16 more, comes just days after Airbus said it would end production of the A380 if it did not receive more orders.
The deal announced on Thursday gave Airbus some respite — the company needs six
to eight orders a year to ensure it can continue to manufacture the A380
But the bet on the four-engine plane turned out to be a financial disaster for Airbus as the industry increasingly used smaller airports, a shift
that favored its main competitor, Boeing, and other manufacturers of midsize aircraft.
The number of planes that can land at an airport on a given day is limited, the European company argued, so the
A380, with the capacity to carry more than 500 passengers, would allow airlines to transport more passengers.
The Dubai-based airline Emirates threw a lifeline on Thursday to the A380, the world’s largest passenger
aircraft, putting in a $16 billion order for up to 36 of the planes to be delivered starting from 2020.