Airbus Loses Order for 840-Seat ‘Flying Sardine Can’ Superjumbos
- Air Austral contract for two A380s finally struck from backlog
- Planemaker has new, unspecified buyer for same number of jets
An Airbus A380 super jumbo performs a flying display during the 51st International Paris Air Show, on June 16, 2015.
Photographer: Jasper Juinen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Airbus Group SE lost an order for two A380 superjumbos from Indian Ocean carrier Air Austral, which had aimed to fit the planes with the highest-capacity seating layout in the history of civil aviation.
The aircraft, whose planned 840-seat configuration had led them to be widely labeled by the media as “flying sardine cans,” were removed from Airbus’s order backlog in a monthly update published Monday, confirming a cancellation that had seemed likely after Air Austral repeatedly delayed their delivery.