> I'd consider Norwegian a bad example since they position themselves as an ultra low cost carrier. [...] European hubs [...] not necessarilly used by ULC carri

> I'd consider Norwegian a bad example since they position themselves as an ultra low cost carrier. [...] European hubs [...] not necessarilly used by ULC carriers. It's not necessary to start the analysis with "ultra low cost carrier" that doesn't use a hub. Instead, we work backward from the "missing" 900 A380 orders that Airbus thought they'd get but didn't. (If Airbus predicted 1200 sales but only got 300 orders, they were way off on their assumptions.) By flipping the cause & effect around, we can see the following: 1) The Boeing 787 makes it possible for a ULC like Norwegian Air to not have to partner with British Airways A380 to get their Norway customers from LHR London to JFK New York. 2) the Boeing 787 makes it possible for a ULC like Norwegian Airlines to offer p2p service themselves without buying hub slots Whether British Airways doesn't buy an additional A380 because Norwegian Airlines isn't sending them any Oslo connecting passengers -- or -- Norwegian doesn't buy an A380 because they don't use hub slots in their ULC business model, the end result is the same: it's an unsold A380.