This is an argument for another thread but I dont think the A380 was the wrong choice for QF - for LAX services it seems perfect.
I think the biggest advantage of the A380 is that it is a massive marketing tool. I know heaps of leisure travellers who go out of their way to book A380 flights because they think its going to be some vastly different travel experience (even though they often have an identical hard product).
The trouble is though the yield figures do not bear that out. Because the A380 has such a small other cargo capacity (fraction of B777 for example) it requires a much higher yield (seats sold per filght) to break-even. Emirates suggested for them the break even was in low 80s and for Emirates it could only match the B777 operating cost when all 1st, biz and overall 85% seats sold. He then said and filling the seats are no problem for us.
Unfortunately for Q 85% is not an everyday achievement on virtually any flight.
Useful post:
OpEd: A barrier to A380 sales in the United States - Runway GirlRunway Girl
"One common theme across the A380 fleet is that all but one of the carriers that operate it also have dedicated cargo arms. British Airways is the single outlier; it recently disbanded its joint venture with Atlas Air, opting for a capacity purchase agreement with Oneworld partner Qatar Airways. The majority of British Airways’ cargo is carried in the belly of its passenger aircraft, as is the case with all US carriers. The shifting economics that required a re-evaluation of seat counts on the A380 had a knock-on effect. It led to reduced belly cargo capacity in A380s because more under-floor cargo volume had to be dedicated to passenger baggage. In contrast with the A380, Boeing’s 777-300ER and other big twins shine in their ability to
produce revenue from both passenger and cargo operations simultaneously. American Airlines became an operator of the 777-300ER in February 2013, and the model began operating between Los Angeles and London in June 2013. In February of this year, AA Cargo announced that one of its aircraft had operated a flight between LAX and London Heathrow with 50 tons of belly cargo, in addition to a full passenger load. For reference, the maximum payload for a 777 freighter is 113 tons.
This revenue diversification is both a huge profit driver and an incredible risk neutralizer. It is a feature of big twins like the 777-300ER as well as Airbus’s A350-1000 and Boeing’s upcoming 777X. T
he combination of passenger and cargo revenues drastically reduces the possibility that any given flight will fail to cover its operational costs.
Have a look at the Emirates site:
Our Fleet - Airbus 380-800 - Emirates SkyCargo
It shows:
- the A380-800 can carry an additional
8,000kgs of cargo in addition to a full passenger load
- the B777-300ER can carry an additional
23,000kgs of cargo in addition to a full passenger load
That changes the breakeven hugely.
