Feature: Airline Update
T
he aviation sector might have been subject to some severe economic turbulence in the last two years, but
airlines nevertheless continue to invest in their cabin product with an abandon that belies the sullen mood of their bean counters. For while many are laden with debts or struggling to find the silver lining in this particular financial cloud, some continue to spend great wads of cash on adding an inch to their Business flatbeds or placing orders for a handful of Dreamliners or Super Jumbos. Investing money in the interests of long-term gains? Sounds kind of familiar. Lumping the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 together in the same sentence might now be commonplace, but it’s not exactly comparing apples with apples – more like beauty and the beast. The two very different aircraft have undoubtedly stirred more interest than most before them, and are both a milestone in aircraft evolution, but they serve very different markets. The lean, green Dreamliner looks set to open up new long-haul connections between regional airports, while the behemoth that is the A380 serves mass market airport hubs where demand is high and slots are in short supply. The latter took off on commercial activities
in December 2007 to a hubbub of excitement, seating anything from 450 to 800 passengers in cabin space that is 50 per cent bigger than the stalwart B747. Airbus says the A380 burns 20 per cent less fuel than the next biggest aircraft in operation today and creates half the noise on take off of a B747. “The A380 has drawn passengers even during downturns, capturing new or existing traffic from competitors,” says Richard Carcaillet, director of A380 product marketing at Airbus. “The aircraft has demonstrated its ability to improve the operating airlines’ market share.” There are now 33 A380s in operation across the
fleets of Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Air France and, most recently, Lufthansa, with each carrier using it as a platform to showcase its latest cabin tweaks. At the recent Farnborough International
Stylish Singapore Airlines
Air Show, aircraft orders lodged across all manufacturers totalled over £30billion, with Airbus’ share of the goods prompting its ceo, John Leahy, to pronounce the global recession over. “There’s no wonder why the airlines are
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