Airbus seems to be finding new ways to expand the role of the A380 without working on the long rumored -900 model. At Innovation Days last week the OEM showed the following slides.
Airbus is offering six weight A380 variants in the -800 model. The 490t version described in the image above will be amazingly quiet – and the airplane is already very quiet. At QC1 this model should be able to use Heathrow any time of the night.
With 5,000 miles range, it would also be able to serve most key markets. The chart below illustrates the wide a set of routes could utilize a 490t A380.
Finally to illustrate why we find the 490t A380 so interesting, take a look at the next chart. If Emirates were to fly this version, it would not get as much value.