Japan’s Skymark Airlines was scheduled to take the A380, but it went bankrupt. ANA won Airbus’ support as a creditor to take control of Skymark — all they wanted was Skymark’s slots at Tokyo Haneda — by agreeing to accept the Skymark A380s. ANA says they’ll operate the planes to Honolulu.
No US airline has taken an A380. Many airlines regret theirs. It’s a big plane, expensive to operate, although cost-effective if you can fill it. The idea was to fly routes at slot-congested airports, like Tokyo Narita and London Heathrow, where an A380 could replace two smaller planes. But an airline that does that loses frequently, and becomes less convenient for time-sensitive business travelers. And adding seats to a market drives down the price the carrier can sell those seats for.
