Cargo Professionals: Please Compare & Contrast B747 vs. A380

[JimNtexas]

Just a question from the peanut gallery for cargo professionals.

From an operational point of view what are the differences between a new B747 freighter and a new A380 freighter?

I am wondering about things like useful load, cargo volume, and loading and unloading issues.

What factors would make a cargo operator choose one or the other if they were in the market for a new freighter?

I'm less interested in questions concerning fair or unfair
subsidies and more in the long term operational issues andassociated costs that
come with these airplanes.

Note: I'm not a student writing a paper, I'm just curious about the operation of these behemoths.

Even though this post is on the interview side, I am posting under
the authority of the "general issues" note on the
forum main page.

 

[TheDogsBollocks]

One's bigger than the other!

 

[leardrivr]

You can buy a 747-200 for less money than the value of the frieght you would haul on a average run. Or you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new aircraft with unproven technology. either way you will only be able to charge a little more per mile for the airbus than the boeing but you will have a huge monthly payment on the airframe. But what do I know I just drive um! I'm not a bean counter.

One's bigger than the other!

 

[Airpiraterob]

the A380 can haul twice as much as an MD-10. and that would be more freight than the 747. so therefore more $$ will be generated per flight. and possibly this could offset the higher monthly payment on the airframe (an unfavorable attribute as mentioned above.) in the long run it could be cheaper....and imagine how profitable one would be when its paid off! oh yea....itll go almost 1000 miles farther.

 

[Whale Rider]

The 747 has been flying for 35 years and go on flying for 75+ more years.
The A380???????????????????????????and???????????????????????????????.

The 747 can fly into 285 airports world wide.
The A380 can fly into 29 airports by 2009.

No modifications needed at airports for the upcoming 747-Advance.
Bah-Zillions to modify the other 256 airports world wide that the A380 can't go to.

Number of 747's built: Over 1400
Number of A380 built: 1 (Test Aircraft)

Where is the A380 going to land in the event of an emergency if not close to the 29 airports it can land at by 2009?

A380 looks wrong so it will fly wrong.

A380 has a weight problem.

The 747 frieghter can load and carry larger single piece frieght then the A380.

 

[TonyC]

Just a question from the peanut gallery for cargo professionals.

From an operational point of view what are the differences between a new B747 freighter and a new A380 freighter?

I am wondering about things like useful load, cargo volume, and loading and unloading issues.

What factors would make a cargo operator choose one or the other if they were in the market for a new freighter?

There's a plethora of articles out there describing the capabilities of the A380. Google and have fun. Here's one that happens to show a side-by-side comparison of the A380 and the 747.

A380 Makes Massive Debut

The A380F will carry more freight for a longer distance at a lower price than the 747F. In many of the airports where we operate, we are limited by the number of slots. We can only put one airplane in each slot, whether it's a Cessna 152, a Boeing 727, a Douglas DC-10, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-11, a Boeing 747, or an Airbus A380.

The A380 will get more freight to that slot. Period.

The 747 frieghter can load and carry larger single piece frieght then the A380.

True. And it does a fine job serving that niche of the market. The far greater market, though, involves freight that fits standard sized containers. Those containers roll directly off of A300s and 727s and semi-trailers onto MD-11's and A380s. Special containers to take advantage of the peculiar dimensions of the 747 would involve loading and unloading of those containers each time the freight moved to or from the 747. Time and money lost.

If all we needed was something to haul BIG freight, we'd be paying Antonov to build us a fleet of An-225s. So far, the market barely supports the existence of even one of those.

 

[Whale Rider]

There's a plethora of articles out there describing the capabilities of the A380. Google and have fun. Here's one that happens to show a side-by-side comparison of the A380 and the 747.

A380 Makes Massive Debut

The A380F will carry more freight for a longer distance at a lower price than the 747F. In many of the airports where we operate, we are limited by the number of slots. We can only put one airplane in each slot, whether it's a Cessna 152, a Boeing 727, a Douglas DC-10, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-11, a Boeing 747, or an Airbus A380.

The A380 will get more freight to that slot. Period.


I don't dispute that the A380 can carry more frieght than the 747 or go further. But to where? 29 airports by 2009 worldwide?? Now you have to have more smaller planes distribute that frieght from those 29 to go to airports where the 747 would go direct. Not to mention both pax and frieght A380's will all be going to those same airports creating a bigger mess than its suppose to clean up.

Hub and spoke is dying, point-to-point is the way to go as Boeing has been saying all along.

 

[TonyC]

I don't dispute that the A380 can carry more frieght than the 747 or go further. But to where? 29 airports by 2009 worldwide?? Now you have to have more planes distribute that frieght from those 29 to go to airports where the 747 would go direct. Not to mention both pax and frieght A380's will all be going to those same airports creating a bigger mess than its suppose to clean up.

Creating a bigger mess? Cummon... How would an A380 create a bigger mess than a 747?

We have several city pairs between which we operate 2 MD-11's daily. A single A380 will replace them both. We have several routes that require stops to cross the ocean. The A380 will skip the stops.

It's not like A380s are going to go to airports that have never had airplanes before.

It's a growing industry - - grow with it, or get left behind.

 

[Whale Rider]

Creating a bigger mess? Cummon... How would an A380 create a bigger mess than a 747?

We have several city pairs between which we operate 2 MD-11's daily. A single A380 will replace them both. We have several routes that require stops to cross the ocean. The A380 will skip the stops.

It's not like A380s are going to go to airports that have never had airplanes before.

It's a growing industry - - grow with it, or get left behind.

With only 29 airports to go to it can't do anything else but skip airports.

 

[TonyC]

With only 29 airports to go to it can't do anything else but skip airports.

Although HNL will be equipped, it'll probably just be a divert alternate now.

 

[FNG_that's me]

Has the A380 ever just blown up in flight?

 

[Whale Rider]

Although HNL will be equipped, it'll probably just be a divert alternate now.

I'd stay away from the reef runway.

I'm sure in the end the A380 and 747 will complement each other with their own niches. When you get a chance to fly the Big Bird let us know what its like? Just curios to find out if its like a 747 or C-5A. Good talking to you.

 

[TonyC]

Has the A380 ever just blown up in flight?

Nope. Never. Not a single time. (Of course, it has never flown yet, either.)

I'm sure in the end the A380 and 747 will complement each other with their own niches. When you get a chance to fly the Big Bird let us know what its like? Just curios to find out if its like a 747 or C-5A. Good talking to you.

I'm sure you're right. Both will do things the other cannot.

It'll be several years, if at all. Too many younger guys senior to me...

I've been told the avionics will be closer to the MD-11 than the 747-400. As far as handling goes, I couldn't even venture a guess. It should be interesting to see all three at Memphis during peak. The TANG has C-5s now, and we'll likely still be wet-leasing whales for seasonal freight, and there will be the Airbus dwarfing them both.

Likewise.

 

[hawkerjet]

When the 747 was in production in the mid sixties, how many airports could it land at without making modifications? Does anybody know? I would be curious to find out. Also the 747, L1011 and DC-10 were all unveiled within a couple of years of one another, what type of impact did these wide bodies have on gates and baggage. I realize that hub and spoke wasn't the norm then nor was deregulation, but there had to be some teathing pains. Anybody know more about this?? I see the A380 as a huge bonus for the pacific rim airlines that may not need to more than a dozen cities anyway. has anyone ever seen 4 and sometimes 5 quantas B 747 at LAX at the same time. i have. but on the same note, i can't see this behemoth aircraft have the same success as the 747. all boeing has to do is modify the 747 with better avionics and engines and capacity and we'll see a knock down fight between the two aircraft giants. my opinion...

 

[FreightNazi]

Since we are getting the 380 and supposedly have a deal sewn up for 25 747-400 SF's it will be interesting in seeing how they both work out. The 747-400s can obviously use existing K loaders and other GSE. The 380 on the other hand is going to require a totally new K loader to service the top deck cargo door. With the number of routes to China limited by governmental awards, and the volume out of China growing like crazy, the need exists to put the largest capacity aircraft you can on those routes, UPS is routinely leaving volume behind with the 747's.

According to what UPS is telling us, the A380F will have a max payload of around 330,000 lbs and a range of 5,600 nm. It has the payload equivalent of two MD-11s or a 767 plus a 747-100. It can carry twice the number of containers of an A300.