Editing Airbus A380 (section)

===Further continuation of programme===
At the July 2016 [[Farnborough Airshow]], Airbus announced that in a "prudent, proactive step", starting in 2018, it expected to deliver 12 A380 aircraft per year, down from 27 deliveries in 2015. The firm also warned production might slip back into red ink (be unprofitable) on each aircraft produced at that time, though it anticipated production would remain in the black (profitable) for 2016 and 2017. "The company will continue to improve the efficiency of its industrial system to achieve breakeven at 20 aircraft in 2017 and targets additional cost reduction initiatives to lower breakeven further."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5418e0ce-484f-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5418e0ce-484f-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |title=Airbus slashes production of A380 superjumbo |date=12 July 2016 |work=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Airbus A380 Cut May Mark Beginning of End for Superjumbo|website=[[Bloomberg News]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/airbus-plans-to-cut-annual-a380-deliveries-to-12-as-of-2018|date=12 July 2016}}</ref> Airbus expected that healthy demand for its other aircraft would allow it to avoid job losses from the cuts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/business/international/airbus-cuts-delivery-goal-for-a380-jumbo-jets.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916103955/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/business/international/airbus-cuts-delivery-goal-for-a380-jumbo-jets.html|url-status=dead|title=Airbus to Sharply Cut Production of A380 Jumbo Jets|first=Nicola|last=Clark|date=12 July 2016|archive-date=16 September 2016|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/airbus-cuts-a380-production-plans-1468344670|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010190611/http://www.wsj.com/articles/airbus-cuts-a380-production-plans-1468344670|url-status=dead|title=Airbus Cuts A380 Production Plans|first1=Robert|last1=Wall|first2=Jon|last2=Ostrower|date=12 July 2016|archive-date=10 October 2016|via= wsj.com}}</ref>

[[File:Airbus A380-841, Lufthansa AN1891305.jpg|thumb|A [[Lufthansa]] A380 at its then home base at [[Frankfurt Airport]] in 2011]]
As Airbus expected to build 15 airliners in 2017 and 12 in 2018, Airbus Commercial Aircraft president [[Fabrice Brégier]] said that, without orders in 2017, production would be reduced to below one per month while remaining profitable per unit and allowing the programme to continue for 20 to 30 years.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://atwonline.com/manufacturers/airbus-confirms-more-a380-production-cuts |title= Airbus confirms more A380 production cuts |date= 5 June 2017 |author= Jens Flottau |work= Aviation Week Network}}</ref><!-- also: https://leehamnews.com/2017/06/05/airbus-ponders-lowering-production-rate-a380/--> In its 2017 half-year report, Airbus adjusted 2019 deliveries to eight aircraft.<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2017/07/H12017.html |date= 27 July 2017 |title= Airbus reports Half-Year (H1) 2017 results |publisher= Airbus}}</ref> In November 2017, its chief executive [[Tom Enders]] was confident Airbus would still produce A380s in 2027 with more sales to come, and further develop it to keep it competitive beyond 2030.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/we-will-still-produce-a380s-in-10-years-airbus-ch-442865/ |title= 'We will still produce A380s in 10 years': Airbus chief |date= 3 November 2017 |author= Michael Gubisch |work= Flightglobal}}</ref> Airbus was profitable at a rate of 15 per year and is trying to drive [[breakeven]] down further but will take losses at eight per year.<ref name=AvWeek14nov2017/>

An order from Emirates for 36 A380s would have ensured production beyond 2020, but the airline wanted guarantees that production would be maintained for 10 years, until 2028: reducing output to six a year would help to bridge that period and would support second-hand values while other buyers are approached, but the programme would still be unprofitable.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-a380/airbus-may-cut-a380-production-to-six-planes-a-year-sources-idUKKBN1E51VH |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171211170915/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-a380/airbus-may-cut-a380-production-to-six-planes-a-year-sources-idUKKBN1E51VH |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 December 2017 |date= 11 December 2017 |title= Airbus may cut A380 production to six planes a year |author= Tim Hepher |work= Reuters}}</ref> If it had failed to win the Emirates order, Airbus claimed that it was ready to phase out its production gradually as it fulfilled remaining orders until the early 2020s.<ref name=Reuters27dec2017>{{cite news |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-a380/airbus-ready-to-phase-out-a380-if-fails-to-win-emirates-deal-sources-idUSKBN1EL11L |date= 27 December 2017 |title= Airbus ready to phase out A380 if fails to win Emirates deal: sources |author= Tim Hepher |work= Reuters}}</ref> In January 2018, Emirates confirmed the order for 36 A380s,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-orders-36-a380s-worth-us-16-billion|title=Emirates orders 36 A380s worth US$16 billion|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2018/01/18/emirates-airlines-order-saves-airbus-a380-superjumbo-for-now/|title=Emirates Airlines Order Saves Airbus A380 Superjumbo -- For Now|last=Goldstein|first=Michael|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en}}</ref> but the deal was thrown back into question in October 2018 over a disagreement regarding engine fuel burn.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-08/airbus-a380-saving-emirates-deal-said-stalled-on-engine-impasse?srnd=premium-europe|title=Airbus A380-Saving Emirates Deal Is Stalled Due to Engine Impasse|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=8 October 2018 |access-date=2018-10-08}}</ref>

To extend the programme, Airbus offered China a production role in early 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/airbus-is-said-to-offer-china-work-on-a380-to-attract-new-orders |title= Airbus Offers China Production Role on A380 to Attract New Order |author= Ania Nussbaum and Benjamin D Katz |date= 8 January 2018 |agency= Bloomberg}}</ref> While state-owned Chinese airlines could order A380s, it would not help their low yield, as it lowers frequency; they do not need more volume as [[widebody aircraft]] are already used on domestic routes and using the A380 on its intended long-haul missions would free only a few [[airport slot]]s.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://centreforaviation.com/insights/analysis/a380s-in-the-china-the-worlds-largest-market-is-there-a-place-for-the-worlds-largest-aircraft-392569 |date= 11 January 2018 |title= A380s in the China, the world's largest market. Is there a place for the world's largest aircraft? |work= CAPA – Centre for Aviation}}</ref>

After achieving efficiencies to sustain production at a lower level, in 2017, Airbus delivered 15 A380s and was "very close" to production breakeven, expecting to make additional savings as production was being further reduced: it planned to deliver 12 in 2018, eight in 2019 and six per year from 2020 with "digestible" losses.<!--<ref name=Flight16feb2018>--> {{As of|2018|02}}, Enders was confident the A380 would gain additional orders from existing or new operators, and saw opportunities in Asia and particularly in China where it is "under-represented".<ref name=Flight16feb2018>{{cite news |url= https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/a380-production-will-create-digestible-losses-air-445983/ |title= A380 production will create 'digestible' losses: Airbus |date= 16 February 2018 |author= Michael Gubisch |work= Flightglobal}}</ref>

In 2019, Lufthansa had retired 6 of its 14 A380s due to their unprofitability. Later that year, Qatar Airways announced a switch from the A380 to the Boeing 777X starting from 2024.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Epstein|first=Sophia|date=2019-09-04|title=The real reason Airbus is retiring its A380 superjumbo jet|language=en-GB|magazine=Wired UK|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/airbus-a380-retirement|access-date=2020-11-29|issn=1357-0978}}</ref>