Air France has announced plans to ditch its entire fleet of 10 Airbus A380s in the latest blow to the future of the plane. Last year the airline said it would not renew the leases on 5 of its 10 "superjumbos", but that 5 others would be renovated at a cost of around US$45m per aircraft. Now it has scrapped the upgrades and will retire all 10 jets by 2022. Airbus received just 2 orders for the plane in 2015 and none in either 2016 or 2017. In Jan 2018 Emirates, the A380's biggest customer, threw the superjumbo a lifeline with a fresh order – but this was cancelled in Feb 2019, prompting Airbus to start winding down the aircraft's production line. Unfortunately for Airbus, the second-hand A380 market is hardly buoyant. <br/>
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Delta Air Lines says it’s getting a boost from young adults looking to jazz up their social-media accounts. One attraction, says CMO Tim Mapes, is the chance to take Instagram-friendly pictures in front of historic monuments such as the Eiffel Tower. Another draw: visiting filming locations for television shows such as Game of Thrones, which has made use of scenery from the UK to Croatia. “Travel today is all about the selfie shot in front of some dramatic place with someone you care about,” Mapes said Tuesday at the International Aviation Forecast Summit in Las Vegas. “That’s the travel currency of today.” It’s also adding to demand for flights. That’s particularly true for Millennials and other younger passengers looking for “the Instagram picture in front of an international icon,” he said. <br/>