Airbus Explores A380 Superjumbo Refresher to Help Rekindle Sales

Airbus SAS said it’s starting to explore ways to refresh its flagship A380 to improve performance toward the end of the decade and keep the double-decker plane competitive as newer long-range jets draw customers.

“We really need to think about how we keep the A380 sharp,” Tom Williams, Airbus executive vice president for programs, said in an interview at the Paris Air Show. Newer planes from Boeing Co. and others Airbus itself is building mean the economics of the A380 need further improvement, he said.