Airbus A380

Airbus A380

by

Student's Name

PMAN 641 - task Procurement Management

Professor Michael Hagerman

University of Maryland University College

Date

Airbus A380

Introduction:

On the 27th of April 2005, a new era in passenger airliners was made when the Airbus A380 Superjumbo airplane took to the air on its maiden voyage. The Airbus A380 Superjumbo is the largest commercial airplane ever built for commercial transportation. The Airbus A380 will have over 35 percent more seating capacity than a Boeing 747-400 which is currently the largest commercial passenger airplane in operation today. The accommodations for its passengers and the overall seating configurations will be second to none.

The A380-800 was originally designed to carry 555 passengers in a three-class configuration, 853 passengers in a single-class economy configuration (538 on the main deck and 315 on the upper deck). In May of 2007, Airbus began marketing the same airplane to customers around the world with 30 fewer passengers (525 passengers). These passengers were traded for an extended range of 200 nautical miles and to enhance the accommodation of its first and business class passengers. The designed range for the A380-800 is an amazing 8,200 nautical miles. The second model being produced by Airbus will be the A380-800F (freighter). This freighter will carry 300,000 pounds (150 tons) of cargo for distances of 5,600 nautical miles. There are future plans for an A380-900 stretch version that will be able to seat 656 passengers or up to 960 passengers in an all economy class configuration. There will also be an extended range version with the same passenger capacity configuration as the A380-800. The Airbus A380 will also find uses for shorter trips in Japan. The population density of the isle nation means even short paths are frequently topped up to capacity. Boeing, environmental groups and airline industry experts have questioned whether the Airbus A380 will be as cost-effective as Airbus claims. Airbus' effectiveness numbers count on full burdens of passengers. Even a few empty chairs on such a huge airplane can actually take away at an airline's profit margins.

The first aircraft was delivered to the Singapore Airlines on October 15, 2007 and entered into service on October 25, 2007. The supportability analyses of the Airbus A380 are in the early stages with only one airplane being in operation at this time. Future data must still be generated and processed in order to have an effect on the design confirmation.

Overview:

European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., the parent company of Airbus, announced the two-year production delay of Airbus A380. The Franco-German defense group warned that there will be a 4.8 billion Euros profit wipe off, due to the accumulated delay for the past two years. FedEx canceled its 10 orders for A380 and switched to Boeings, while Singapore Airlines ordered more. In order to turn profit and cover the total cost of 15 billion Euros, EADS needs to at least sell 420 A380s. Despite the fact that they will not make a profit in short runs, the management of EADS believe A380, should be operating for the ...