Leasing company Amedeo has formally cancelled its order for 20 Airbus A380s, without having taken delivery of a single one.
Amedeo emerged as a successor brand to Doric Lease, which firmed an agreement to take the 20 aircraft in February 2014 – becoming the only A380 customer that year.
It had expected to start receiving the A380s in 2016 but Airbus has shown no signs, in the five years since the order, that the aircraft were undergoing manufacture.
Amedeo had expressed confidence that it could market the aircraft to potential operators, arguing that there was pent-up demand for the aircraft but that carriers were not capitalising the savings potential from higher-density configurations featuring 600-700 seats.
But the order has languished on Airbus’s A380 backlog without any indication of being fulfilled.
Amedeo says it has “agreed a termination” of the 20 jets with the airframer and is holding discussions over “other commercial options”.
The company already has A380s on lease to Emirates and Etihad Airways.
It claims that Airbus’s plan to discontinue A380 deliveries will have “positive implications” for future values of the fleet, particularly those with Emirates.
“As much as this is a watershed moment for Airbus, it may also be seen as marking an inflection point in Emirates’ growth strategy, evolving from a rapid and successful growth phase to consolidation of its now established market position,” says Amedeo.
“We expect the A380 to remain a core aircraft type for Emirates, with higher financial profitability deriving from the longer term use of its A380 fleet.”
The company says it expects Emirates to retain a core fleet of more than 100 A380s, and that they will be operated by the Dubai-based carrier for the entirety of their useful economic lives.
“This will act to reduce future capital expenditure, depreciation and rental expenses significantly, while retaining the A380’s unit cost advantage of scale and unrivalled customer experience,” it adds.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
