Will Airbus Build Another Double-Decker Aircraft?

Could Airbus ever build a new double-deck aircraft? This was a question some started asking anew when Emirates recently stated it would like Airbus to put the Airbus A380 back into production as the A380neo. However, it seems Emirates is very much the outlier on that, with other operators like Qatar, Korean Air, and Lufthansa keen to retire their Superjumbos. There has also been chatter about a large clean-sheet Airbus widebody dubbed the A390. But there is no evidence that such an aircraft program currently exists outside of Reddit threads. Meanwhile, there is zero interest in the North American market for an extra-big aircraft.

Double-decker aircraft were a more common design. The first transatlantic flights offered by Pan Am were with the double-deck Boeing 314 Clipper. After WWII, Boeing developed the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser (derived from the B-29 bomber) just before the dawn of the Jet Age. Besides the 747 Jumbo, other double-deck commercial aircraft like the Breguet 763 Deux-Ponts, Short Sandringham, and early Dornier Do X were developed. So, what is the chance of Airbus returning to build double-deck aircraft?

Airbus’ Failed Giant

EK A380 final LHR shutterstock_2482826279 — Photo: Abdul N. Quraishi | Shutterstock

Airbus is believed to have invested around $25 billion in developing the A380 Superjumbo. However, it had only delivered 251 aircraft by the time it terminated the program, meaning Airbus was never able to recoup those massive expenses. Understandably, Airbus is more cautious now when it comes to large projects like the A380 and apparently told Emirates that if they want an A380neo, then they would have to fund the development costs.

It wasn’t just the A380 that did poorly; so did the final iteration of the Boeing 747 Jumbo, the 747-8. Boeing only sold around 150 examples of this updated design, of which just 43 were passenger variants. The remaining 107 were freighters. The arrival of the smaller, but long-ranged and efficient, Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 has made these large aircraft inefficient in comparison.

It is theoretically possible that Airbus could put an Airbus A380neo back into production, at least if Emirates were to front much of the expense. However, that seems like a remote eventuality. While it is unlikely that the A380 would go back into production, the idea that Airbus would develop a clean-sheet double-decker seems more of a flight of fancy.

Industry Looking To Smaller Aircraft

EVA Air Boeing 787 Dreamliner taxiing — Photo: eric1207cvb l Shutterstock

As a rule, the overriding force driving the development of new commercial aircraft is the need for ever more efficient planes. In many areas, the larger something is (e.g., a ship), the more efficient it is per passenger carried. However, this does not necessarily hold true for commercial aircraft. This was the case with the 787 and A350 proving more efficient than the A380.

This trend appears set to continue. The quest for ever more efficient aircraft is pushing the industry towards blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft and hybrid electric aircraft. Blended wing body aircraft have been suggested by Airbus as a new generation of aircraft. However, it is JetZero in the United States, in partnership with Northrop Grumman, that is leading the effort. JetZero plans to fly its first full-sized BWB demonstrator for the US Air Force in 2027, and then have it ready for commercial use by 2030.

Select commercial double-deck aircraft	Numbers built	Dates built
Dornier Do X	3	1929-1932
Boeing 314 Clipper	12	1938–1941
Breguet 763 Deux-Ponts	20	1950s
Short Sandringham (converted from Sunderland Mk III)	27	1940s
Boeing 747 Jumbo	1,574	1968-2023
Airbus A380-800	251	2003-2021

The BWB aircraft JetZero being developed will have around 250 seats and will be a mid-sized aircraft. JetZero claims it will use up to 50% less fuel than today’s aircraft. Meanwhile, the talk is of Boeing building the Boeing 797, a clean-sheet mid-sized airplane, while Boom’s supersonic Overture is significantly smaller than Concorde. It seems no one is interested in building extra-large widebody commercial jets, not even China’s COMAC.

Zoom ultra wide photo of Boeing 747 passenger jumbo jet airplane as seen from ground flying high in deep blue cloudy sky

The Aircraft Replacing The Boeing 747

As Boeing’s flagship, the Boeing 777X is the closest thing to replacing the Jumbo, although it is not a direct replacement.

Stretching The Airbus A350

Singapore Airlines A350 shutterstock_1681546210 — Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock

The Airbus A350 exists in two variants, the A350-900 and the stretched A350-1000. Simple Flying has recently reported that Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has hinted the company may be open to stretching the A350 again (dubbed the A350-2000). This is in order to better compete with the Boeing 777-9. Simple Flying previously noted that a stretch would add a fairly modest 12 tonnes to its MTOW and that the new aircraft could be more efficient and have better seat-per-mile costs.

It has been suggested that the A350-1000 wing would not require redesign for the stretch. However, it is unclear if Airbus would go ahead with the stretch. The A350-1000 has proven less popular than its smaller A350-900 cousin. The hypothetical stretch is not currently a priority for the A350 program, which is more focused on developing the A350F cargo variant and the A350-1000URL for Qantas. An Airbus A350-2000 may be unlikely, but it is more likely than Airbus developing a new double-deck aircraft.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Airbus A380 was intended to be bigger. The only variant, the A380-800, has outsized wings for its size, as those wings were developed with Airbus engineers intending to develop an even larger and stretched A380 dubbed the A380-900. This never happened, and so the A380-800 flies today with wings optimized for a larger aircraft that never was.

Towards Net Zero

Net Zero may be a buzzword, but the truth is that more efficient aircraft are exactly what the industry wants. While Airbus revealed its concept of a BWB aircraft in 2020, it is unclear how much progress it has made on the design since. At the Airbus Summit 2025, the company instead focused on providing updates to promising technologies to develop the next generation of narrowbody aircraft to eventually replace the A320 family.

Airbus also provided an update on the status of its hydrogen-powered ZEROe aircraft project. It announced that hydrogen fuel cell technology has been selected as the propulsion method for future aircraft. However, this aircraft is also envisioned to be a single-aisle turboprop.

What was missing from Airbus’ vision of future aircraft was a new widebody aircraft, much less a new double-deck widebody. While this doesn’t mean Airbus won’t develop a new widebody, it does speak to smaller single-aisle aircraft being more of a priority. Like Boeing, the bulk of Airbus’ commercial aircraft deliveries are narrowbody aircraft.

Airbus A390: What We Know So Far

What will the European planemaker’s next clean-sheet aircraft design entail?

Boeing 777X Already Too Big For North America

Boeing 777X its a new variant with variable wingtips — Photo: Falcons Spotters | Shutterstock

It should be noted that the Boeing 777X is much smaller than the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380, but still struggles to find markets. It has attracted around 551 firm orders, which is impressive. However, its markets are limited. Over half (60%) of these orders are from just two airlines, with Emirates ordering 205 examples and Qatar ordering 124. No mainland Chinese airlines have publicly ordered it.

No airline in North or South America has ordered the Boeing 777X, nor has any other airline shown much interest. United Airlines was considered one of the most likely customers, but it has said the aircraft is too big for its operations. US-based airlines, like United, operate around half a dozen dispersed hubs. This is unlike Emirates, which has one big hub. American, United, Delta, and Hawaiian appear content with ordering Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A350s as their largest widebodies.

Select commercial aircraft in development
Boeing	Boeing 777X, possibly ‘797’ Mid-Sized Airplane
Airbus	eZero, eventual A320 replacement
COMAC	C929 twin-aisle, long-range airplane
JetZero	Z4 Blended Wing Body mid-sized airplane
Boom	Overture supersonic passenger aircraft

The Boeing 777X shows that the important North American market has entirely turned away from extra-large widebody aircraft. This suggests that even if Airbus were to develop another double-decker, it would do so knowing its chances of securing large orders from North America would be minimal.

Lufthansa Airbus A380 stored at TEV shutterstock_1814584685 — Photo: Santi Rodriguez | Shutterstock

It’s not only commercial aircraft; the US Air Force has also trended away from extra-large military transports. The largest military transport in the US Air Force service is the C-5M Super Galaxy. However, while the Air Force procured 131 examples of the C-5 Galaxy, it only selected to upgrade 50 to the C-5M standard and place the rest in storage. The Air Force is not currently interested in procuring more large-strategic airlifters.

Instead, the Air Force is more interested in procuring smaller aircraft like the JetZero/Northrop Grumman Z4 Blended Wing Body and small tactical transports with the ability to take off and/or land vertically. In the future, airports will be vulnerable, along with the large aircraft operating there. There may be different pressures on the Air Force than on the commercial sector, but the result for both is turning away from extra-large aircraft. Even the B-21 Raider is much smaller than its B-2 Spirit predecessor.

All this is to say that Airbus is unlikely to build a new double-deck aircraft anytime soon. The trend against large aircraft spans both the commercial and military sectors. As giants like the C-5 Galaxy and A380 Superjumbo took to the skies, many may have assumed ever-larger aircraft were an inevitability. But few things in this world ever develop linearly, and for now, the world has turned against extra-large aircraft. Even the Boeing 777X’s market is geographically limited, making an Airbus A380neo or A390 seem unlikely.