European aerospace behemoth Airbus has announced it will stop building its A380 superjumbo jet after the plane’s biggest customer, Dubai-based Emirates Airline, cut its order by 39 planes.
Airbus has “no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years,” CEO Tom Enders said in a statement Thursday, adding: “Today’s announcement is painful.” Airbus says it will deliver its final A380 to Emirates in 2021.
After investing billions into the A380, Europe’s largest aerospace company had hoped to overtake its biggest competitor, Boeing’s 747 jet. Airbus had once positioned itself as a luxury airplane with enough amenities to rival the seven wonders of the world, which it proclaimed in one commercial ad. Some carriers included showers, lounges and duty free shops as well as bars on both decks of the A380s.
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