The Airbus A380 Superjumbo has a new buyer, but it doesn't want to say who
Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier announced this week at the company's annual meeting that it had a firm order for three aircraft from an undisclosed "global leading airline."
Bregier said the airline requested that Airbus not yet disclose the buyer's identity, but Nikkei has reported that the mystery airline is Japan's All Nippon Airways.
This would be the first airline to purchase the A380 since Emirates placed an order in late 2013.
According to Nikkei, ANA plans to deploy the three double-deckers to ferry tourists back and forth from Tokyo to Hawaii. The deal is valued at just over $1.2 billion.
This A380 order seems to have been a couple of years in the making, with the Japanese carrier reportedly looking into the airliner as far back as 2014. ANA is expected to take delivery of its A380s starting in 2018.
Airbus has sold 319 of the massive jets over the past decade and a half.
Emirates alone accounts for 140 of the orders. There are 179 examples of the aircraft in service around the world with 13 airlines.
The news around the A380 is still not completely rosy. This week, Virgin Atlantic Airways reportedly ordered 12 A350-1000 wide-body airliners to replace the airline's aging Boeing 747-400 leisure fleet. The airline also has an outstanding order for six A380s.
Last year, Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger told Business Insider that the airline would take delivery of the A380 order only if there was enough capacity for all six jets. This development makes VA's long-delayed order of A380s look even less likely.
We have reached out to the companies for comment.