Miami: Airbus is confident of adding new customers for its A380 superjumbo jet this year, President and Chief Executive, Fabrice Bregier, told Gulf News on Monday.
The European aircraft manufacturer currently has 317 orders booked from 18 customers for the worlds largest passenger jet, according to its website.
“We are in talks with a few potential customers,” Bregier said in an interview at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meet in Miami.
Airbus, which failed last year for the first time to find a single new buyer for the superjumbo since it entered into service, raised the idea last December of discontinuing the A380 as early as 2018. The manufacturer has since dismissed the suggestions.
But Bregier said he is “pretty confident” the worlds largest passenger aircraft will find a new customer in 2015. Last September, Airbus said there was a “distinct possibility” of adding a. Ew customer in 2014.
Airbus is heavily dependent on Emirates, which is the largest airlines by international seating capacity and the biggest operator of the A380. It has ordered 140 of the superjumbos and as of last month was operating 61 of the aircraft in its fleet.
The A380 sells for around $400 million (Dh1.5 billion) at list prices, however, large customers often receive discounts. The major Gulf carriers, Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, have marketed the A380 as a premium aircraft, attracting high yielding first and business class passengers. Emirates is in the process of finalising a new first class product that it says will resemble a railway cabin, Etihad’s A380’s feature The Residence, a three-room suite, and Qatar Airways’ superjumbos are the only aircraft in its fleet with first class.
But Bregier does not believe his new customers will be looking to emulate the Gulf’s premium offerings. Instead, he thinks airlines will be looking at value for money and how many passengers they are able to carry.
“We are moving away from the flagship very fancy cabin,” he said.
“We are looking towards a more efficient cabin from a cost per seat point of view.”
Airbus have designed a standard four class configuration; first, business, premium economy and economy class that can seat 545 passengers, which Bregier said “makes the current A380 extremely competitive.” The economy class in this configuration features 11 seats abreast at 18 inches wide each.
Bregier also said he believes some customers will follow Emirates who from November will introduce two class business and economy A380s that will be able to carry 611 passengers
Emirates has been calling on Airbus to commit to developing a more fuel efficient new engine model with a 10 to 12 per cent improvement.
Bregier said that what Emirates is asking for is “realistic” and that he is “confident that [Airbus] will do it.” But he also said there is “no urgency” to commit to its development.
“I don’t think we need to come up with this aircraft before the next decade,” he said.
