Emirates Seeks To Scrap Final A380 Deliveries
Emirates airline, the world’s largest A380 operator, is looking to cancel five of its last eight superjumbo deliveries, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sources told Bloomberg that while Emirates plans to receive three Airbus A380 aircraft before the end of its financial year in March 2021, it wants to cancel the final five deliveries.
Emirates told the news agency that it is in regular communication with Airbus regarding its fleet but does not comment on commercial discussions. Airbus refused to comment on the basis that its talks with customers are confidential.
The coronavirus pandemic has evaporated air travel demand and caused a number of operators to reconsider their capacity and fleets for the next few years.
Airbus’ double-decker A380 and Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet are expensive to run and difficult to fill and operate profitably in comparison to narrow-bodies, which has already caused them to be dropped from several fleets.
Air France, which was the first European airline to operate the A380, said on Wednesday it is permanently retiring its nine of the jets.
Emirates has a fleet of 115 A380s and while it had already begun restructuring its fleet to include 787s, 777Xs and A350s, the airline planned to operate some of its superjumbos into the 2030s.
Scrapping five A380 contracts without reaching an agreement with Airbus would cost Emirates around $350 million, according to the company’s annual report. However, with 50 A350s on order from Airbus, Emirates has some added negotiating power.
Emirates has already been reviewing its fleet and is reportedly looking at retiring a large portion of its existing A380 fleet. It could get rid of 65 jets earlier than planned, according to a Bloomberg report.
The news comes as Emirates reportedly plans to cut some 30, 000 jobs in a thorough review of its costs amid the coronavirus crisis.
Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said last month that the industry’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, which forms the backbone of Emirates’ fleet, is ‘over’ in the wake of the coronavirus disaster.
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