SINGAPORE, Sept 14 Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) will not extend the lease on its first Airbus A380 jet when it expires next year, a further blow for Airbus Group as the manufacturer seeks to bolster new sales of the world’s largest passenger plane. The airline has decided not to renew the A380 plane when the ten-year contract expires next year.
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The Singapore flag carrier has 19 of the double-deck jets in its fleet and the first five were taken on a 10-year lease deal with Airbus.
Demand for the A380 has dwindled in recent years with the introduction of more nimble twin-engine jets.
SIA said the decision not to extend the lease was the result of a regular review of its fleet requirements.
But they added the airline had orders for five separate A380s with Airbus, which will start being delivered in the second half of 2017.
He said that a plane with four engines like the double-decker A380 cost more to maintain compared with twin-engine aircraft “so it doesn’t really make much sense to operate these enormous tools”, he added.
SIA was the launch customer of the A380, with -SKA the first A380 to enter commercial service in October 2007.
The jet, which has four engines, has a list price of Dollars 432.6 million.
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A total of 13 global carriers, including Emirates Airline, British Airways and Qantas Airways Ltd. fly the A380, which can seat about 525 passengers in a typical three-class layout.
