ROUGH LANDING

Airbus to Stop Making A380, the World’s Largest Passenger Jet

Company scraps the A380 after a major sales slump.

Airbus has decided to stop making the A380 double-decker—the world’s largest passenger jet—after a major slump in sales. The company will keep making the jets until 2021, when it expects that remaining buyers will receive their last orders. “Today’s announcement is painful for us and the A380 communities worldwide” said Airbus Chief Executive Office Tom Enders, who added that as many as 3,500 jobs will be affected by the decision. Orders for the A380 have been dwindling for years; the call to cancel production came after Emirates, the largest A380 customer, cut its order and decided to reduce its overall A380 fleet size from 162 to 123. Enders added that there was “no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years” after the Emirates announcement. The A380 has capacity for more than 800 passengers.