>>1239271>>1240398>>1241872>>1241877This is the story I've heard, so bear with me.
Where the A380 shines is high-density ULH routes, especially those that serve airports that require Slot Clearance Requests. It's no surprise that many A380 operators have:
-A) A hub at an SCR airport (IATA Level 3),
-B) Longhaul/ULH routes from those congested hubs, to equally-congested destinations, and
-C) Lots of business travel demand between the two congested airports (i.e. high-density routes)
BA, Singapore, Thai, Emirates, Qantas, Korean, Malaysia all fit this bill. They have Level 3 slot-controlled hubs, and high-density longhaul/ULH routes to other slot-controlled hubs, that also have high business demand.
Thai has BKK-LHR, SQ/KE fly A380s to SFO/LAX, Qantas has SYD-SIN-LHR, Malaysia has KUL-FRA, Emirates funnels traffic from congested airports in Europe (LIN/MAD/BCN/CPH/etc.) to Asia/Australia via DXB. There are exceptions like Thai flying A380s on the BKK-TPE route but in my opinion I think those short A380 routes are designed for turnaround purposes, so the planes aren't sitting idle.
Already the business case for domestic A380s in Japan doesn't make sense.
-Japan is a small, densely populated country (less than 1,500 miles from north to south, and 150 miles across at its widest point)
-There's a vast high speed rail network that has been expanded significantly in the last 20 years (especially with the Kyushu Shinkansen in 2004, and Hokkaido Shinkansen in 2016)
-Most of Japan's population is concentrated in Syutoken (44M, about 1/3 of Japan's population). Commuter trains and Shinkansen are entirely sufficient.
And, Japan's other population centers are close enough apart that Shinkansen covers most intercity travel, and for journeys too long for Shinkansen, a 737 or A320 flight (from say Haneda to Kumamoto/Kagoshima) can be turned around extremely quickly. There are 767s and 777s for those extra high-density routes like ITM-OKA and HND-CTS.
