By Bjorn Fehrm

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Introduction

December 06, 2018, © Leeham News.: Our Monday article “A380 suffers new blow, future remains bleak” describes how Air France hands back five of their 10 Airbus A380-800 to their lessor with start next year.

The article details the reasons behind the returns. Other media writes the A380 are notably more expensive to run than a Boeing 777-300ER. As so often, this is a serious case of apples and oranges.

Summary:

• To compare aircraft like-for-like, they need to be compared with the same rules for cabins and operations.
• When this is done, the A380 is not more expensive to operate than a 777-300ER.
• The caveat is: if filled to the same load factor.