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A-380 demise: No major impact on Changi, stakeholders
On Valentine's Day, Airbus told the world it was ditching the biggest love of its life: the Airbus 380 superjumbo. The last giant jet will be delivered in 2021. As the plane maker mulls over what went wrong, questions are being asked about the impact of the break-up on three areas: air travel trends; airlines including SIA that continue to operate the aircraft; and airports like Changi that spent millions to accommodate the plane.
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Two Airbus A-380 aircraft sit on the ground at the Tarmac Aerosave SAS storage and recycling facility against a background of the Pyrenees mountain range in Tarbes, France, on Feb 17, 2019.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Karamjit Kaur
Airbus was convinced that growing passenger traffic would put major constraints on busy airports, making the A-380 the only viable option for airlines to expand without the need to add too many flights.
This was premised on a hub-and-spoke model; a hub being a central airport that flights are routed through and the spokes are the routes airlines operate from the hub.
