4 ms·

Sadly, this is it. You know why Boeing didn’t build a competitor? Because they weren’t competing planes they were competing business models. When the A380 was a

by yardie 6y ago

Sadly, this is it. You know why Boeing didn’t build a competitor? Because they weren’t competing planes they were competing business models. When the A380 was announced Boeing announced the 747-900 and then said this was the last iteration of this line. Their largest plane now is the 777. But I wouldn’t call the A380 doa. When it arrived the Middle East and Asia were booming. Newly minted millionaires wanted to travel and for a while they did. But the hub and spoke wasn’t enough. You can only stop in DXB so many times before realizing this isn’t your destination just another distraction from where you really want to be. And those destination terminals figured it out. Expanded the airport accommodate more flights. And the hubs became less relevant. And so did the A380.

iso1631 6y ago
> And the hubs became less relevant Dubai is the 4th busiest airport in the world Atlanta is the busiest, don't tell me people want to go to Atlanta. If I fly Manchester to Singapore, I can either fly on a 90 minute narrow shorthaul flight to Heathrow then spend 15 hours on a tired BA plane departing evening, arriving the next evening, or I have a choice of multiple departures on Qatar and Emirates, with two 8 hour flights. Same amount of hassle, but works far better for jetlag. Now if I'm flying UK to South Africa, and there's little time change, then sure I want an overnight 12 hour flight where I can get a good 9 hour sleep in addition to dinner and breakfast. Not many routes like that (10+ hours, overnight, sub-3 hour time difference).
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  > 15 hours on a tired BA plane departing evening, arriving the next evening I mean there's a number of other airlines you could fly on - Singapore Air, or Qantas (I'm pretty sure they offered that as a fifth freedom flight)
  - iso1631 6y ago
    Not from Manchester (actually I think there was a flight on Singapore, but you still had to fly via Frankfurt), that's the point. Sure you can fly on Singapore and (used to Qantas) from Heathrow, that's a hub to hub flight, and both are/were on A380s. Fly from Dublin to Singapore you're going via a hub -- Healthrow, Frankfurt, Dubai, doesn't matter. Fly from Delhi to Manchester you're going via a hub Fly from Edinburgh to Muscat you're going via a hub The 787 and A350 perform well for gulf carriers in flying to places like Edinburgh, where Emirates I think were doing 2 flights a day. The A380 doesn't work for these region-hub airports, but we still have Spoke-Hub-Spoke on long haul, and will for the forseeable. What we don't have (much) is Spoke-Hub-Hub-Spoke, as the 787 and A350 have made it more economic to serve long haul spokes from a single hub.
    - madeofpalk 6y ago
      sorry, i just meant from heathrow. it was a "well actually" that didnt actually contribute anything of value, now that i look back on it.

by yardie 6y ago

iso1631 6y ago

> And the hubs became less relevant Dubai is the 4th busiest airport in the world Atlanta is the busiest, don't tell me people want to go to Atlanta. If I fly Manchester to Singapore, I can either fly on a 90 minute narrow shorthaul flight to Heathrow then spend 15 hours on a tired BA plane departing evening, arriving the next evening, or I have a choice of multiple departures on Qatar and Emirates, with two 8 hour flights. Same amount of hassle, but works far better for jetlag. Now if I'm flying UK to South Africa, and there's little time change, then sure I want an overnight 12 hour flight where I can get a good 9 hour sleep in addition to dinner and breakfast. Not many routes like that (10+ hours, overnight, sub-3 hour time difference).

madeofpalk 6y ago
> 15 hours on a tired BA plane departing evening, arriving the next evening I mean there's a number of other airlines you could fly on - Singapore Air, or Qantas (I'm pretty sure they offered that as a fifth freedom flight)
- iso1631 6y ago
  Not from Manchester (actually I think there was a flight on Singapore, but you still had to fly via Frankfurt), that's the point. Sure you can fly on Singapore and (used to Qantas) from Heathrow, that's a hub to hub flight, and both are/were on A380s. Fly from Dublin to Singapore you're going via a hub -- Healthrow, Frankfurt, Dubai, doesn't matter. Fly from Delhi to Manchester you're going via a hub Fly from Edinburgh to Muscat you're going via a hub The 787 and A350 perform well for gulf carriers in flying to places like Edinburgh, where Emirates I think were doing 2 flights a day. The A380 doesn't work for these region-hub airports, but we still have Spoke-Hub-Spoke on long haul, and will for the forseeable. What we don't have (much) is Spoke-Hub-Hub-Spoke, as the 787 and A350 have made it more economic to serve long haul spokes from a single hub.
  - madeofpalk 6y ago
    sorry, i just meant from heathrow. it was a "well actually" that didnt actually contribute anything of value, now that i look back on it.