Did Boeing Outsmart Airbus on Super-Jumbo Jets?

The A380 project forged ahead in a market already receding and forecasts were not supporting the big fours and the A380 numbers yet to break even. It seems pride overrode monetary sense, reminiscing of the Concorde era. At least the A380 is making money albeit no where near the factors of the twins.

While they are both going away and Boeing may find a little success in the freighter market, the main difference is that the A380 cannot go everyplace, therefore restricting the lanes it can run in. It is hampered not only by airport gate size but also runway size. It can meet the weight requirement in a lot of places but because of poisoning of the outboard engines, requires a 200' wide runway to prevent FOD ingestion into the engines. The 747 is a lot more versatile and is well positioned to move around an airport.

This article is interestingly timed as Airbus just released new projections for air traffic in the Australia/Middle Earth area. They projected that Perth, Brisbane and Auckland will become "Mega-cities" by 2033, and traffic to the region will grow at 4.7% annually. They also predicted that the number of passenger and freighter aircraft is expected to double from 18500 to 37500 by 2033, and in my opinion Boeing is better poised to capture that growth. With a well established supply chain for 787's and a strong hold in the freighter market (even with 747 orders slowing down), they are more likely to hit the ground running capturing this growth. The A330neo is not established and the A350 supply chain has grown slowly, providing problems for Airbus and making it hard to fulfill orders. Additionally, Airbus barely sells any cargo aircraft, which is troublesome considering their own Global Market Forecast department said that there will be a strong need for freighters.

LOL... It does not take much to out smart Air Bus