3/4

The engines? Impressive—four Rolls Royce Trent 970s, because apparently three just wouldn’t cut it for this diva. But these engines eat fuel faster than a uni student on an all-you-can-eat buffet. Sure, it’s powerful, but airlines quickly realised they’d have to sell both kidneys to keep this beast in the air.

And let’s talk about the so-called ‘stretch’ versions. The A380-900 is what happens when someone with champagne dreams and a tap-water budget decides to ‘super-size’ everything. Airbus planned to stretch it by up to 19 frames—because why not? But the idea of this thing lumbering around airports like a drunk giraffe had airlines laughing all the way to Boeing.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on operating costs. Running one of these monsters is like marrying someone who insists on weekly spa days and designer everything—flashy, sure, but financially ruinous. Airlines took one look at the A380-900’s specs, did the maths, and noped out faster than a bad Tinder date.