Boeing did not confirm this, but according to Blooomberg sources, it can be read from minor changes in the wording in the financial statements. The last two-story 747-8 aircraft is expected to leave the Seattle plant in about two years.
Jumbo has been produced since 1969. Its end after fifty years is not a big surprise. Airlines around the world are switching to smaller and more economical machines such as the Boeing Dreamliner or Airbus A350.
Like the A380, Boeing’s two-story behemoths are also harmed by coronavirus. In ten years, the US company has delivered about 1,500 to customers, but now only a few orders are running, including UPS.
After carriers resume at least some of the airlines, Credit Suisse estimates that 91 percent of the 747 and 97 percent of the competing A380s are still on the ground.
If Bloomberg’s reports are true, the rivals will end at about the same time. Airbus’ competitive jumbo has already announced the end of 2021.
Operating an aerial Titanic is expensive |
However, while the Boeing 747 was hugely commercially successful, the Airbus cannot be said. It will stop production only after eighteen years. Airlines are decommissioning them in very good condition. This week, Air France flew the A380 for the last time and only symbolically into the air from Paris, and it is removing these aircraft from its fleet after an average of nine years of operation.
Other airlines are considering stopping flying with the largest fuel-intensive civilian Airbuses. Among them are Lufthansa and Qatar Airways.
According to Bloomberg, Airbus currently has only nine orders for the A380, eight of which are for Emirates, the airline that has historically bought by far the most. But she, too, is now considering stopping the order of the last five pieces.
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