A380 is Airbus double-decker wide body aircraft with a capacity to carry 850 passengers. Though equipped with all the luxuriies, it faces a decline in sale. It has been in the market for the last seven years. The situation is so dismal that the company might have second thoghts about continuing its production by 2018.The plans to make the plane more fuel-efficient and a 1000-seater are held in abeyance. The plane took $25 billion to develop.

Most carriers today prefer smaller twin-engine jets that are more fuel-efficient and can access more airports. A380 is the mainstay of the Emirates and use Dubai as the hub through which it connects major routes around the globe with just one stop. London’s Heathrow puts a cap on take offs and landings and this provides an incentive to use larger aircrafts like A380.

Smaller airfields lack the infrastructure to accommodate the huge plane. Airlines are adding long-haul service to the secondary cities where the demand is not strong enough to fill an A380.

Emirates is requesting A380 to upgrade its engines. This may cost Airbus $2.5 billion.In 2000, when the company promoted the aircraft, it expected an order of 1200 planes, whereas the order book today shows an order of just about 300 planes. Japan and China were considered key markets, but they have disappointed. To the Emirates, the aircraft is a big cash generator — they just open the doors and people come.