The life of the Airbus A380

When the A380 was introduced, it put almost every other competitor on the airfield in the shadows — literally. With a length of 72.7 meters (238 feet) the plane has a wingspan of 79.8 meters and is over 24 meters tall.

Singapore Airlines was the first airline to deploy the A380. Here the proud new owners are shown on the tarmac in Toulouse — gathered together to document the great day. Back then on October 15, 2007, the future of passenger flying was still seen in terms of size: The more passengers transported at once, the more profit for the airline.

The superjumbo can carry more than 500 passengers in a three-class configuration, which is an increase of more than 100 passengers over its rival, Boeing's 747. Airbus' new aircraft boasts two passenger decks and first-class suites with proper beds. In an all-economy configuration, the plane could carry more than 850 passengers.

The A380 was hailed for its roominess, large windows, high ceilings and quieter engines. Some carriers put in showers, lounges, duty free shops and bars on both decks, and passengers could choose to fly in their own private suite.

In 2011 and 2012 a number of technical problems with the A380 were reported. Qantas, Emirates and Singapore Airlines all reported A380 flights that had to make emergency landings due to engine issues. In January 2012, Qantas and Singapore Airlines found cracks in the wings of their A380s. Investigations found they were caused by material and manufacturing problems and it cost €263 million to fix.

Sadly, the A380's major selling point turned out to be its biggest downfall, with airlines saying they were unable to make the flight profitable if they did not sell every seat on the plane. "It's an aircraft that frightens airline CFOs; the risk of failing to sell so many seats is just too high," one aerospace industry source said.

In January and February 2019, both loyal customer Emirates and Australian airline Qantas cancelled orders for the A380. Emirates instead decided to order some smaller planes from Airbus while Qantas withdrew its order for the purchase of eight A380s.

After struggling to sell the giant planes, European plane manufacturer Airbus announced it would stop making its superjumbo A380 in 2021 due to lack of customers, bringing the life of the world's biggest passenger jet and one of the aviation industry's most ambitious and most troubled endeavors to an end.