Malaysia Airlines has confirmed its order of six behemoth Airbus A380s, a so-called "superjumbo." The A380 is an absolutely massive jetliner, with the potential for over 850 coach passengers, although dividing the twin flight decks into classes will shrink that number significantly. To have that many seats is more than mere bragging rights; it drives down operating costs owing to reduced fuel consumption per passenger. Even though the A380's four engines are thirsty devils, the added passengers sharply offset the extra fuel usage. Well, at least in theory. The trouble that faces all airelines today is a lack of travel, which has caused many carriers to rethink adding the gigantic Airbus to their fleets. Tengku Azmil Zahruddin, Director of Malaysia Airlines, is pushing the deal through in spite of the lull in travel. While most air traffic in Malaysia is to and from the rest of the Islamic World, Director Azmil stated in a press conference "we do have a lot of traffic coming in from Europe. The A380s will allow us to do a lot more than what we are able to do today." His gamble on six of these aerial titans could in fact pay dividends, and Malaysia Airlines did see an 876 million ringgit (US$250 million) profit in the second quarter of 2009. Director Azmil has also been looking to reduce nearly 700 million ringgit (US$202 million) in operating costs, which translates into reducing the size of the fleet. So maybe six capacious jets will be the cure.
-by Caleb B. Ray
Source: USA Today: Today in the Sky
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