Wyatt stated, “In an industry characterised by razor thin margins, the Airbus A380’s four-engine configuration, high fuel consumption and enormous weight made the plane expensive to run on top of its eye-watering average procurement cost of USD445 million.

He added that the loss of the Airbus A380 is undoubtedly a setback for Airbus with the plane superseded by planes like the Airbus A350 and A330 and Boeing’s 787, which offer greater fuel efficiency but can still carry large passenger numbers over a comparable range to exploit the trend for end-to-end flights.

“Airbus gambled on a continuation and maybe even increase of hub-and-spoke flying. Although the Boeing 787 has not killed that model in the way many predicted, hub-and-spoke is unpopular in an era defined by time poverty and smaller jets are flying direct, showcasing the limitations of hubs,” added Wyatt.

He went on saying that, however, Airbus’s order books show that it is at the forefront of these market dynamics because although Emirates has cancelled its Airbus A380 order, it has signed USD21,4 billion worth of orders for 40 Airbus A330 Neo and 30 A350 aircraft.