Emirates president urges Airbus to reconsider A380 production

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.