Have you ever thought about having a little piece of the Airbus A380 in your home? In a few months this could be reality. The European aerospace group has set an auction for 500 pieces of a retired “Super Jumbo” for October. The aircraft, serial number MSN13, entered service in 2008 with Emirates Airlines, which sent it to be scrapped last year.
The auction will be held in Toulouse, France, but will also be open for online participation. The list of items from the decommissioned plane that will be sold includes light fixtures, stairs, handrails, trolleys, seats and even a bar, which is one of the main features of the Emirates A380.
In a statement, Airbus confirmed that the proceeds from the auction will be passed on to the Airbus Foundation and the AIRitage association. The company did not stipulate how much it intends to raise at the auction. The event will be held on October 13, 14 and 15.
The ex-Emirates A380 was dismantled in France by Tarmac Aerosave, a company controlled by Airbus, Safran and Suez that specializes in the sustainable dismantling of decommissioned aircraft.
Sales failure
When it announced the A3XX program in the early 1990s, Airbus had high expectations for the aircraft that would later be named A380. The manufacturer received 1,200 orders for the jet that appeared as the definitive replacement for the Boeing 747, which dominated long-haul flights since the 1970s.
The program, however, was extremely complex and delayed. At the same time that the plane was being modified, the commercial aviation market was undergoing profound changes.
While Airbus was developing the largest passenger plane in the world, airlines were abandoning this type of aircraft and opting for smaller, more efficient models that could travel greater distances, such as the current Boeing 787 and Airbus A350.
When the A380 hit the market it was already too late. And too expensive: the cost of an hour of flight is estimated at US$ 30,000. Of the 1,200 orders, only 246 were fulfilled, and the last aircraft manufactured by Airbus was delivered at the end of last year to the airline Emirates.
