Airbus has blamed weak sales for its decision to scrap production of the A380 superjumbo – the world’s largest airliner.
The European aerospace giant confirmed on Thursday it would deliver the final aircraft, with its two decks of cabins and room for 544 passengers, in 2021.
Following months of speculation over the plane’s future, Airbus said it had taken the decision after Emirates scaled back an order for A380s – choosing instead to focus on smaller planes.
Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said: “As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years.
“This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021. The consequences of this decision are largely embedded in our 2018 full year results.”
They showed losses of £788m from the A380 programme and hugely delayed A400M military transporter plane putting a dent in profits.
Nevertheless, Airbus said it made £2.7bn in overall net profits – a jump of 29% on the previous year.
The company said it planned talks with unions over the potential for harm to up to 3,500 jobs connected to the superjumbo, which is assembled in France.
A security guard stands at the entrance to Airbus’ wing assembly plant at Broughton, near Chester
It is unlikely the firm’s operations in the UK, which employs 14,000 staff and where all its wing assembly takes place, will be badly affected though Mr Enders warned last month it could move operations abroad in the event of hard Brexit “madness”.
The company later admitted to Sky News that Downing Street had asked it to make clear the impact of a no deal scenario.
The A380 was first launched 14 years ago as a challenger to fierce rival Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet but its popularity has struggled to take off.
Emirates said it was “disappointed” to give up its order – citing new plane and engine technology – leaving just 14 superjumbos in the production pipeline for the Middle East carrier as it opted to pick up a total of 70 of the smaller A350 and A330neo models instead.
Just one other airline has A380s on order, with Japan’s ANA due to have three delivered.
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