Tim Clark, President of Emirates, has reiterated the airline’s interest in Airbus resuming production of the A380. This request comes despite the final assembly line for the aircraft type being shut down. Speaking to Business Insider, Clark emphasized that Emirates is eager for Airbus to restart production of the A380, which remains central to their fleet.
Clark suggested that Airbus could enhance the A380 design by incorporating lighter materials and exploring next-generation engines like Rolls-Royce’s UltraFan. According to Rolls-Royce, this engine offers a 25% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to earlier models like the Trent 700 and is 10% more efficient than the Trent XWB used on A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft.
In previous comments, Clark criticized the reliability of the A350-1000’s XWB-97 engine at a media roundtable during the Dubai Airshow in November 2023. He noted that if these engines met Emirates’ standards, they might reconsider including this model in their fleet.
Clark has consistently expressed his hopes for resuming A380 production since August 2022. He believes utilizing lighter materials and advanced engines such as Rolls-Royce’s UltraFan would be beneficial.
Restarting production poses challenges for Airbus, which halted assembly of the Superjumbo in 2021. In January 2020, Airbus announced plans to replace the A380’s final assembly line with additional capacity for producing the A321neo. By mid-2022, Airbus transitioned its Toulouse facility into a digitally-enabled line for this purpose.
In December 2023, Airbus delivered its first Toulouse-assembled A321neo to Pegasus Airlines. This move aligns with their strategy to modernize and address growing demand for the model, which constitutes nearly 65% of Airbus’ A320 backlog.
Airbus CEO Christian Scherer stated that while unlikely, nothing is ruled out regarding future production changes.
Clark also pointed out potential benefits of larger aircraft amid limited airport infrastructure expansion in Europe and North America. He argued that a single slot occupied by a large-capacity plane would be more efficient than multiple smaller jets with fewer passengers.
Emirates has received nearly half of all A380s produced by Airbus—123 out of 251 units—including taking delivery of the last unit built.
