Kelburn wrote: see this is why Boeing is better than Airbus. Airbus announces that they are building the A380. 10 or 11 years later its only just been made and the first customer still hasn't got their aeroplane yet.
Boeing announces their plane and 5 or 6 years later it's getting rolled out and the first customer gets theirs in less than a years time (airbus its 2 to 3 years time)
Well, although people realised that building the A380 would be difficult, I don't think anyone could have envisaged the amount of trouble they are going through. One of problems at the moment is the engine manufacturers getting the efficiency in their engines - not really an airbus problem in my opinion.
Airbus have done exceptionally well in my opinion, there really was no precedent they could have used, a lot of the technology and know-how had to come from scratch. Whereas with Boeing, they have been building and refining their twin-engine aircraft for quite some time now, with the 767-400, 737NG's, and 777's. The step for Boeing to build the 787 was not as large as it was for Airbus to build the A380, I feel.
Still, will be great to see the 787 in regular service.
Alex