Qantas Airways have said that they do not want the remaining 8 Airbus A380s it still has on order because of sufficient demand being met on the current network that they already have. “Our intention is that we’re not taking those aircraft,” Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said Friday at an airline conference in Brisbane, Australia.
Qantas was one of the original buyers of the Airbus A380 and the airline was expected to buy significant amounts of the aircraft, like Emirates but has since held off on ordering more. “We believe there’s a network for 12 that’s very good and works very well,” Joyce said. “We struggle with a network for the next eight.”
This puts Airbus now at a disadvantage of losing billions more in business as the 8 will either be stored or not produced at all. It will be interesting to see whether Emirates make any future orders of the A380 and grab those remaining 8 from Qantas for a short fee, especially as they have such an extensive relationship in terms of codesharing etc.
On a more cynical note, Qantas have probably done this because of the Boeing B787-9 Dreamliners they are due to receive soon. There has also been speculation into the airline launching more direct Australia services to the UK with a Heathrow-Perth direct service with the B787-9 aircraft itself, meaning a more expansive portfolio for the airline in terms of direct services rather than having to stop at certain hubs to refuel.
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