Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has pitched a two-class, high-density version of the A380-800 to Saudia (SV, Jeddah) as the European manufacturer attempts to find a new first time-buyer for the twin-deck quadjet in three years.
Fouad Attar, Airbus' Managing Director for the Middle East, told Bloomberg news in an interview that a 615-seat, two-class version of the A380 would be ideal to the Saudis given annual surges in demand for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. A "handful" of such aircraft would help alleviate pressure on the kingdom's infrastructure, Attar said. Local authorities anticipate a ten-fold rise in year-round demand to 60 million people by 2018.
