I think we can now unofficially declare the A380 dead. UPS announced today that they have canceled their order for 10 freighter versions of the A380.

Since Fedex already canceled their order and Emirates converted their orders into ones for the passenger version, that leaves no takers for the A380 Freighter anymore. I would imagine Airbus will just walk away from this so they can concentrate on the passenger version, but then again it wouldn’t surprise me to see them keep chugging along with the program to save face. (I hope not.)

I’m actually pretty surprised this didn’t get more attention last week. On Sep 15, US officials announced they’ll require all express cargo to be screened for explosives just like checked baggage.

I’ve heard plenty of people show their concern about cargo not being screened, so why didn’t this get more attention? Well, for one reason, it’s not much of a change.

A good example of express cargo is the Continental QUICKPAK. Basically, you go up to a counter at the airport and they ship it on the next flight out to any other airport for a hefty fee. Then someone has to pick it up at the other end. So, a very small portion of total airline cargo actually goes onboard as express cargo. On top of that, most airlines already do full screening of these packages anyway.

So, this announcement doesn’t say much except that the feds are actually keeping an eye on cargo. It seems to me it’s just a matter of time before all cargo is required to be screened.