Airbus to Scrap Production of A380 Superjumbo
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14 February 2019 14:47 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Toulouse - Europe's Airbus announced plans to scrap production of the A380 superjumbo on Thursday, Feb. 14, abandoning its dream of dominating the skies with a cruise-liner for the 21st century after years of lackluster sales.
The world's largest airliner, with two decks of spacious cabins and room for 544 people in a standard layout, was designed to challenge Boeing's legendary 747 but failed to take hold as airlines backed a new generation of smaller, more nimble jets.
Airbus said in a statement that the last A380 would be delivered in 2021.
Confirming a shake-up first reported by Reuters, it said Emirates - the largest A380 customer - had decided to reduce its orders for the iconic superjumbo and order a total of 70 of the smaller A350 and A330neo models.
The European company said it would enter talks with unions in coming weeks over the 3,000-3,500 jobs potentially affected.
Airbus will produce 17 more of the planes including 14 for Emirates and 3 for Japanese airline ANA.
As part of the restructuring, Emirates placed a new order for 40 A330-900neo jets and 30 A350-900 aircraft, partially restoring a purchase of A350 aircraft which it canceled in 2014.
REUTERS
