Which, it seems, should cause Airbus to re-evaluate that idea. Wasn't the A380F a significantly large part of the program? With no buyers, that could be a problem...
Question 1: Can the A380 program be profitable without the A380 Freighter?
Question 2: Does it matter?
But the cancellation of Fedex and UPS orders for the A380F will open up about 20 early slots for the passenger version. This will cut down on the delays in getting passenger A380's to importan launch customers who are owed compensation for the delays.
UPS must have needed the additional 747's as soon as possible considering they aren't waiting for the 747-8F. They'll now have a fleet of 20 747-400F's. I wouldn't be surprised if Guggenheim Aviation Partners were to place a big order for 747-8F to replace the 12 747-400F slots they just sold (probably for a significant profit).
As I understood it, the A380F design group was also designing the stretched A380.
There were originally three customers for the A380F. FedEx cancelled their order, and Emirates converted their order into pax A380s. UPS was the sole remaining A380F customer, and if they cancel then that will simply move pax aircraft up in the production que.
I read a quote last week when UPS was denying that any decision had been made that UPS was just waiting until they could cancel their order penalty free.