Very interesting read, an interview with former Airbus salesman John Leahy on the shortcomings of the A380 and his belief that had the nextgen engines been on it things may have been different:
https://www.airlineratings.com/news/...-a380-failure/
Quote:
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Where I believe we got into serious trouble was when we were blindsided by the engine manufacturers. They were assuring us that the specific fuel consumption was that of new generation engines, and it would be ten years before there was the next leap to a substantial improvement. We launched in 2000, but three years later we got the 787 being launched with GENx engines and Rolls Royce matching that, having a ten to 12 percent better specific fuel consumption than the A380’s engines. Can you imagine the success of the A380 if it had 12 percent better fuel burn than it actually had?
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