Lounge in an Airbus A380 of Emirates.
Tim Clark also criticizes British and Lufthansa

Emirates lashes out at A380 strategy of Air France

More and more airlines are phasing out their Airbus A380s. Emirates President Tim Clark says Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa have got it all wrong with the double-decker.

Top-Jobs

Zimex logo

Administrator AVOR & CAMO

Vollzeit
Zimex Aviation Ltd.
Flugoperationen
Feste Anstellung
Top jobs
Altenrhein
Schweiz

They can be seen for three more years. Then Air France says goodbye to the last of its ten Airbus A380s. The superjumbos will be replaced either by Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s. The decision as to which model the French national airline will choose as replacement will be made soon.

A new leadership was needed before Air France could break up with the A380. Benjamin Smith as CEO of Air France-KLM and Anne Rigail as CEO of Air France - both only in office since the end of 2018 - quickly made it clear that they did not like the double-decker. The French manager recently made it very clear that the plane was too big and too expensive. She also said that there were many problems with it, not only with the engines.

«Business Class seat of 1990s»

Tim Clark agrees. «The A380 was a misfit for Air France»,  the President of Emirates said to Airlineratings. «If you’ve got a sub fleet of 10 it’s a bloody nightmare and the costs go through the roof», the manager said. If you own a hundred, the unit costs are much lower and it pays off. Without the A380, Emirates would never be where it is today, says Clark. The plane helped to grow faster.

Emirates's president sees another mistake at Air France. The French didn't take the opportunity to make the A380 something special. You can't put «Business Class seat of 1990s-think and a First Class of 1980s-think and Economy Class seating and IFE of 1990s» in such an expensive aircraft. Air France had simply turned the aircraft into another one instead of an extraordinary one.

British Airways has too few A380s, Clark believes

Emirates, on the other hand, has relied on extras such as showers, a bar or huge TV screens. «Air France and Lufthansa was just more of the same.,» says Clark. He also criticizes British Airways. The airline had too few A380s, and it actually needed a hundred, according to the manager. Great Britain has 62 million inhabitants and London Heathrow Airport is chronically congested. «That would have worked for them,» Clark said to Airlineratings.

Mehr zum Thema

Air France: C'est fini. Die französische Nationalairline hat bereits vergangenes Jahr das definitive Aus für den A380 verkündet.

Air France wants to get rid of A380

Airbus A350 in den Farben von ALC: Wer fliegt künftig mit den sieben Jets?

Airbus verliert die Erstkundin für den A350 F

ticker-airbus-konzern-

Airbus sammelt im Juni 203 neue Orders ein - aber auch Stornos

condor airbus a330 900 d anrp

Condor liebäugelt mit Bestellung weiterer Flugzeuge

Video

spirit airbus schaumbad detroit
Ein Blitzschlag hat am Flughafen Detroit versehentlich das Feuerlöschsystem eines Hangars ausgelöst. Drei Airbus A320 von von Spirit Airlines standen daraufhin bis zuden Triebwerken im Schaum. Das kann große Schäden verursachen.
Laura Frommberg
Laura Frommberg
Menschen auf der Tragfläche: Sprung aus großer Höhe
Bei der Evakuierung einer Boeing 737 in Palma de Mallorca haben sich mindestens drei Passagiere Brüche zugezogen. Nun stellen sich Fragen zum Ablauf der Evakuierung.
Benjamin Recklies
Benjamin Recklies
Ethan Guo im Cockpit: Seine Reise ist vorerst gestoppt.
Zwischen Tourismus, Territorialanspruch und Forschungsalltag führt das chilenische Dorf Villa Las Estrellas ein ruhiges Dasein in der Antarktis. Ein 19-jähriger Influencer und Privatpilot ist nun unangemeldet mit seiner Cessna 182 dort gelandet. Er wurde verhaftet.
Laura Frommberg
Laura Frommberg