Taylor on Travel

All smiles at Airbus and Singapore Airlines as an A380 finally heads to Singapore for its commercial launch next week, albeit 19 months late. But behind the bally-hoo, how do the figures stack up?

Airbus has orders for 189 A380 Superjumbos, which at about £165 million apiece makes for a tidy sum. But whereas the manufacturer originally estimated it would break even by selling 250 of the aircraft, it has since conceded it needs to shift 420. Indeed, that number dates from a year ago and may now be higher.

Sixteen carriers have taken the plunge with the A380. But take out Emirates, which has ordered 55, and the order book does not look so strong - 15 airlines signing up for 144 aircraft. These include cash-rich Middle East carriers Qatar and Etihad, Australia's Qantas, and European giants BA, Lufthansa and Air France. Leasing company ILFC has taken ten.

Where are the other 231 orders going to come from? The A380's major customers will largely be big, profitable, hub-and-spoke carriers with good credit facilities. Some of these have yet to come forward, but not too many.

And are the US carriers, out of restructuring but fearing recession at home, really likely to place orders with Airbus rather than with Boeing - especially ahead of a US Presidential election and amid allegations of unfair state subsidies and insider trading?

Of course, all doubts may be swept away as more people have a chance to experience flying with 554 fellow passengers . . .