Airbus A380 Downward Spiral Continues

A few days ago I speculated that Airbus gave UPS a way out of their orders for the cargo version of the A380 because they needed the fuselages for a passenger carrier. It was either that or doing the extra work for just UPS, as the only remaining cargo customer, would add costs and complicate the production line, and that is what Airbus is claiming. Whatever the case, the cargo version of the A380 is officially on the back burner for now. This is a terrible blow as the cargo market is an important market segment to have a hold on as a buffer against a difficult passenger carrier market.

UPDATE (thanks to a reader for the reminder): UPS cancelled the order. The only question now is will it take 777s or the 747-8?