2LT National News

SYDNEY, Australia – Despite scrapping an order for an additional eight Airbus A380 planes, Qantas says it plans to operate its existing fleet of A380s well into the future.

The airline announced on Thursday it was cancelling its order for the 8 planes. Airbus however said Qantas is changing its order, which is an indication the Australian carrier could be switching to a different type of aircraft.

Airlines such as Qantas have been taking more interest in smaller planes, and ones that are more fuel-efficient given the ongoing uncertainty of oil prices.

The A380, double-decker planes have had mixed success. Possibly their biggest proponent is Emirates, which is a good endorsement considering its hub in Dubai is the busiest international airport, and it is one of the fastest growing airlines, and possible already the one with the longest reach, and most routes.

Emirates has more than one hundred Airbus 380s in its fleet, and has twenty more on order – and an option to take 16 more, however last week Airbus announced it was in discussions with the Gulf-based airline on its current contract.

Other major carriers heavily invested in the Airbus are British Airways and All Nippon Airways.

In terms of sales, Airbus achieved 747 net orders during 2018, down from 1,109 net orders a year earlier.

At the end of 2018, the backlog of Airbus commercial aircraft reached a new industry record and stood at 7,577 aircraft, including 480 A220s, compared with 7,265 at the end of 2017.

“Despite significant operational challenges, Airbus continued its production ramp-up and delivered a record number of aircraft in 2018. I salute our teams around the globe who worked until the end of the year to meet our commitments,” Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft said at the time. “I am equally pleased about the healthy order intake as it shows the underlying strength of the commercial aircraft market and the trust our customers are placing in us. My gratitude goes out to all of them for their ongoing support.”

Over the last 16 years, Airbus has steadily increased its production year-by-year with the final assembly lines in Hamburg, Toulouse, Tianjin and Mobile complemented by the addition of the A220 line in Mirabel, Canada, during 2018.

A notable contribution to Airbus’ delivery increase in 2018 came from the final assembly lines in the U.S. and China. For the top-selling A320 Family in particular, the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, saw its 100th delivery, and is now producing in excess of four units per month. Meanwhile, Airbus’ “FAL Asia” in Tianjin, China, achieved its 400th A320 delivery, while in Germany Airbus commenced operations of its new, fourth production line in Hamburg. Overall, the A320 programme is on track to achieve rate 60 per month for the A320 Family by mid-2019. The Airbus teams reached an important industrial milestone for the A350, achieving the targeted rate of 10 aircraft per month.  

Airbus is expected to report its full year 2018 financial results on 14 February 2019.