![]() ![]() It remains to be seen whether the A380 has any resale market and no doubt the proof in the pudding will be when Emirates starts removing its earliest units from the fleet. ![]() This was the 6 th A380 built 9V-SKC, which now operates for wet lease specialists Hi Fly Malta. Only one of the 5 aircraft Singapore has retired has found further service. The aircraft were instead stored at Tarbes in the Pyrennes but with A380 parts in high demand the decision was eventually made to scrap them and salvage their parts. The German investment fund, Dr Peters, who the first A380s retired from the SQ fleet were returned off lease to, undertook negotiations with several operators (including British Airways, Iran Air and Hi Fly) to take them but in the end failed to find customers for the initial four. 9V-SKA, the first A380 in revenue service, was retired on Jafter only 11 years of service as their decade long leases expired. These last aircraft in fact were delivered after the first retirements. Singapore Airlines eventually took delivery of 24 A380s with deliveries stretching over a decade (albeit with a 5-year break before taking the last 6). Nonetheless the layout of the first A380s was not similar to the luxury of the first 747s and SQ still managed to fit in 471 seats (12 first class, 60 business class and 399 economy). Singapore’s A380s as you’d expect were well fitted out and came equipped with 12 suites, private compartments with sliding doors and fabric screens. Having travelled on the type myself I can say it was a great experience and certainly added some glamour and excitement to a trip. The net result for Airbus is an eye-watering loss, but the A380 has proven to be a safe and reliable aircraft. Unfortunately, the market has moved towards long-range lower capacity twins, offering frequency and greater fuel efficiency than the A380. This was hyperbole at the time and hasn’t really come to pass, however the A380 was a valiant attempt at hitting a new niche for slot-restrained high capacity routes. This is the plane for today and tomorrow.” “From today there is a new queen of the skies for air travel …The 747 is a good plane but it is not an all-new design. It was hard for Airbus to take much solace from Boeing’s nightmare with the Boeing 787 development when they were having a similarly hard time with their own A380, but after a multi-year delay the launch customer, Singapore Airlines, finally took delivery of their first aircraft, 9V-SKA, on October 16, 2007. Phoenix have long worn the crowd as king of the A380 makers but does this recent ‘retro’ A380 change that? THE REAL THING Edwin Leong Despite its lack of sales success in the real world the type has been popular amongst model collectors, although in recent years here have only been two moulds juking it out – the familiar adversaries of JC Wings / Gemini Jets and Phoenix. Production of the Airbus A380 ended in December 2021 with a total of 251 having been produced.With the recent announcement that A380 production will cease in 2021 it seems fitting that I should review an A380 in 1:400 scale, and in fact the first A380 delivered. Having been developed by Airbus in 1990 as a feasible competitor to the Boeing 747, which had gone unchallenged since its inception in the 1960s, the Airbus A380 is a four engine jet that went into service in 2007 as the world's largest, long-range, wide-body passenger airliner, and because it is the only full-length, double-deck aircraft to ever be produced, the A380, which is typically configured to seat 525 passengers, can accommodate up to 853 passengers. A Display Stand is not included and is sold separately - Gemini GJSTD777. Manufactured by GeminiJets as a limited edition, highly collectible model, this Emirates Airbus A380-800 - Registration A6-EUV - has been meticulously recreated from Airbus' blueprints and features realistic metal landing gear and detailed graphics, assuring the utmost accuracy and superior quality. GeminiJets 1/400 scale Emirates Airbus A380-800 diecast model is As Real as it Gets™ and measures approximately 7-1/8-inches long with a 7-7/8-inch wingspan.
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