[Prophet in the wilderness]

The problem with a conventional fuselage airplane like the A-380 and the 747 is developing jet engines that size and fitting it under the wings... and the trust that is needed.
I am not saying it's impossible, just very difficult to do.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Opps... I meant,,, developing a twin engine plane like the size of the A-380 , 747

[Paleo Conservative]

The problem with a conventional fuselage airplane like the A-380 and the 747 is developing jet engines that size and fitting it under the wings... and the trust that is needed.
I am not saying it's impossible, just very difficult to do.

But that will probably happen within the next 15 years. the GE90-115 has been tested at 130,000 pounds of thrust. It will probably take an engine with at least 150,000 pounds of thrust for a twin engined CFRP 747 replacement. It will come out a long time before the A380 gets the desired rate of return for Airbus. Also, if Boeing were to develop a 747 sized blended wing body composite aircraft, its possible they might be able to be able to mount three engines in the rear. This would eliminate the necessity of developing a very large engine that would have a demand for a very low number of units.