Competition, and especially carriers from the United States, undermined the A380 programme to weaken Emirates, the Gulf carrier’s president, Tim Clark, told The Air Show Podcast.

“The American carriers weren’t having anything to do with it anyway, because in those days, this was the weapon in the armoury of Emirates, so you need to stop using them because that allows them to go to Airbus to build more and more and more, so none of them bought the airplane,” he said.

Clark claimed that about 10 years ago there was a mandate within the Star Alliance not to buy the A380 that in time led to an end to its production.

“Who could say to me, you could fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo with the A380, whether United, American, or Delta, and not make money? I don’t think so. Or go from Los Angeles to Sydney,” Clark said, questioning US carriers’ strategy to operate the routes more frequently with smaller aircraft.

Earlier, Clark stated that Emirates will operate its A380-800 fleet until the end of the 2030s, despite industry trends to focus on more fuel-efficient and smaller aircraft.

Emirates is by far the largest operator of the A380, with 118 aircraft, ch-aviation data shows. Singapore Airlines and British Airways are next in line, with only 12 aircraft of the type each. Airbus halted A380 production in late 2021.