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The current Airbus A380-800 could carry over 800 people. Has Airbus planned to build a new, larger version that could carry 1000 or more passengers?

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to the site! Unfortunately I'm not sure what you're asking and it looks like it will be difficult to give a precise answer because I guess no one outside Airbus knows for sure what their plans are and Airbus employees probably wouldn't discuss them anyway. I suggest that you try to ask a more specific question that can be answered clearly or, if you simply want to discuss this topic then the chat room would be a better place. $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Sep 23, 2014 at 18:08
  • $\begingroup$ thanks a lot for your response!! My quetion is about if they have planed to build more high capacity versions $\endgroup$ Sep 23, 2014 at 18:12
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    $\begingroup$ OK, that's helpful. I've edited the question to make it more specific; if you don't like the edit then you can just change it back. $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Sep 23, 2014 at 18:52

5 Answers 5

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Has Airbus planned to build a larger version of the A380?

Yes,

In 2012 they planned to build a larger version of the A380.

"Airbus says 1,000 seat A380 due 2020"

However, manufacturers do change plans from time to time, sometimes in response to market conditions. "Has planned" is not necessarily the same as "is planning". Those plans are not currently (8 Jan 2015) being pursued and consequently, as time goes by without a resumption of those plans, it is increasingly likely that any target dates in those plans may no longer be attained.

If you want to know do Airbus in January 2015 have active plans to build a larger version of the A380 - that would be a new question.

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    $\begingroup$ That article says that the project was shelved in 2010. Given the soft sales figures since the article was written and that they are not taking orders for a -900 as of today, I'd guess than a 2020 date is unlikely. $\endgroup$
    – reirab
    Jan 6, 2015 at 15:19
  • $\begingroup$ The question was whether Airbus has planned a larger version. They have but, as you noted, plans change. @reirab. I'll update the answer to make this plain. $\endgroup$ Jan 8, 2015 at 9:35
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The answer is clearly yes: The ratio of wingspan to fuselage length is unusually large for modern transport aircraft. The A380 has a wingspan of almost 80m and a fuselage length of less than 73m, whereas in other modern transport aircraft the fuselage is longer than the wingspan is wide.

Airbus designed the A380 with lots of stretch potential. With the cooperation of engine manufacturers, the A380 may one day have a fuselage length of around 100m. This is greater than the maximum length of 80m used in current airport layouts, but Airbus is betting on operators to urge airports to accomodate a stretched A380, just like they did for the current model's wingspan, weight and height.

The A380 will be the biggest Airbus for the next 30 or maybe even 50 years, so it better offers some growth potential.

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    $\begingroup$ The odd proportion of wings to fuselage is also caused by the double-deck layout: due to the high weight, the A380 needs a lot of lift. $\endgroup$
    – florisla
    Sep 24, 2014 at 7:59
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Airbus has certainly made preliminary plans for a stretched version of the A380 (the A380-900,) but no plans currently exist for that model to go into production. Demand for the A380 has been soft, leading Airbus' own CFO to suggest to investors last month that the A380 might be discontinued entirely unless they can find enough customers willing to buy a re-engined version of it soon.

Orders for large, quad-engine airliners, including the A380, have been light lately. Since taking the first order 14 years ago and over 7 years since the first delivery, only 318 A380s have been ordered, nearly half of which were from Emirates, and many of the A380's orders will likely be cancelled. While the Boeing 747 has had over 1,500 deliveries over its long lifespan, it, too, currently has a small order book with only 16 net new orders since 2008. In contrast, twin-engine wide-bodies have been selling very well lately. The A350 just delivered its first aircraft and already has 778 orders. Similarly, the first 787 was delivered a little over 3 years ago and it has 1,055 total orders, so far. The 777X, currently scheduled for production in 2020, was first offered for order a little over a year ago and already has 286 orders. Total 777 orders so far number a whooping 1,807. The long-haul wide-body market has been trending very strongly towards twin-engine aircraft like the 777, A330, 787, and A350 lately rather than mammoth quad-engine aircraft like the 747 and A380. As such, it seems unlikely that Airbus is going to be sinking billions of dollars into a stretched A380 any time soon.

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Actually I think they don´t have any plans for a stretched version of A380.

Tim Clark, CEO of Emirates, wants a larger A380 but Airbus said (last time when this topic came up) that they would rather improve the current A380 and increase the performance.

They are making a change by increase the lower floor height to add extra seat in each row on economy but thats it.

Now Tim Clark is pressuring to make a neo-version af A380 and and Airbus is considering that option. Emirates say that they would order up to 70 A380neo if that plane will be launched but Airbus has to calculate the cost and if it´s will be profitable for them.

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to aviation.SE Ingdor (sorry, my keyboard doesn't support Icelandic :-)) "I think" doesn't really qualify as an answer here. We'd like to see your thoughts supported by evidence. Any links perhaps that support your claims? $\endgroup$
    – DeltaLima
    Sep 27, 2014 at 1:22
  • $\begingroup$ Hi, Delta Lima Airbus talked about strecthing the A380 back in 2012 with seats for 100 more passengers but because of poor demands Airbus said in june 2013 that they would improve the current version instead Here´s link to a story I wrote on my website (sorry it´s in icelandic but google translate should do the trick) alltumflug.is/flugfrettir/4108/… But it´s interesting maybe to know the status if there are any plans to make A380-900. I´ll contact Airbus spokesman after the weekend and get the lates info on that $\endgroup$ Sep 27, 2014 at 20:21
  • $\begingroup$ Of course they have plans to stretch the A-380! They had them before starting the project. That they now claim not to have any is probably to make airlines buy the current model. $\endgroup$ Sep 28, 2014 at 16:12
  • $\begingroup$ If you have a reference for a quote from Tim Clark and/or Airbus that corroborates your answer, please provide it in your answer $\endgroup$
    – rbp
    Jan 9, 2015 at 14:46
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Yes, and in the short-term they're also talking about re-engining the existing A380 with engines based on those on the A320neo as outlined here.

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  • $\begingroup$ That link just says that they're considering an neo A380, not that the new engines would be based on the A320neo engines (CFM LEAPs.) It's extremely unlikely that they'd be using anything remotely like a LEAP on an A380 variant. Even with 4 of them rather than 2, it would be ridiculously underpowered. 4 similar engines (CFM56s) do power A340s, though. $\endgroup$
    – reirab
    Feb 16, 2015 at 4:48

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