Toulouse: On Thursday, European aviation giant Airbus said that after struggling to sell the world's biggest passenger jet, it will stop making its superjumbo A380 in 2021. The decision came after Emirates, the largest customer of the A380, reduced its order.
In a statement, Airbus said that Emirates would reduce its A380 orderbook from 162 to 123 aircrafts, reported BBC. "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", said the Airbus chief executive Tom Enders.
The decision is expected to be a boon for rival Boeing and a blow for Airbus. Earlier, Airbus had hoped that the A380 would squeeze out Boeing's 747 and revolutionize air travel as more people take to the skies.
Instead, in recent times, airlines have been cautious about committing to the costly plane. As a result of which airports had to build new runways and modify terminals to accommodate it.
The double-decker planes started flying in 2008 and seat more than 500 passengers.