Airbus A380, Once the Future of Aviation, May Cease Production

Airbus A380, Once the Future of Aviation, May Cease Production<br />“As smaller, more efficient planes flood the market,” he said in an email, “new city<br />pairs are being created almost every day, killing the case for larger aircraft.”<br />Airbus did not book any orders for the A380 last year, the company said on Monday.<br />Only so many planes can land at an airport in any given day, so Airbus reasoned<br />that planes carrying more people would allow airports to absorb more passengers.<br />The admission by John Leahy, the company’s chief operating officer, was the latest indication<br />that Airbus miscalculated more than two decades ago when it bet that clogged runways would create demand for larger planes that could deliver more people with fewer landing slots.<br />“The A380 was better suited to 1995, before air routes fragmented,” said Richard Aboulafia,<br />vice president of analysis at Teal Group Corp., a consulting firm in Fairfax, Va.<br />Airbus said Monday that it has not given up on the plane, but acknowledged that it is endangered.