this is business live from bbc news, with victoria fritz and ben bland. the end of the runway for the superjumbo. airbus says it's scrapping the a380 12 years after it was launched, as airlines move towards smaller jets. live from london, that's our top story on thursday, february 14th. bigger is not always better. the world's largest passenger plane struggles to compete with smaller, more efficient models. from hero to zero. zero growth, that is. europe's biggest economy, germany, just manages to dodge recession. we look at the reasons why. stocks wait for progress at us—china trade talks. and oil prices continue to climb while the dollar holds around two—month highs. and it's valentine's day, of course.

and there will be a few corks popped today — but what does it take to produce a quality sparkling wine from scratch? and today we want to know — passengers and pilots may love the superjumbo, but from 2021 there will be no more new a380s. will you miss it? did you enjoy travelling on it? let us know #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. we start with airbus, because as you've been hearing, it's the end of the runway for the world's biggest airliner. airbus says it's ending production of the double—decker a380, 12 years after it was launched. it will make its last deliveries of the aircraft in 2021. demand for the a380 has been declining as airlines shift to smaller, wide—bodied jets. the decision comes after emirates, the superjumbo‘s biggest customer,

cut back its orders from 162 to 123 aircraft. simon calder is travel editor of the independent. good to see you, simon. so, when they write the memoirs of the shot, will it go down as a success or failure, do you think? financially, afailure, in failure, do you think? financially, a failure, in terms of passenger preference, absolutely a runaway success preference, absolutely a runaway success but unfortunately the fact that all kinds of passengers, weather business or pleasure, prefer the roomy, comfortable airbus your shot, the economics simply don't stack up and once emirates ridges by far the biggest customer for the jet, buying about half of them, says, we are going to downsize to the airbus a330s and a3, then the

game was up. the airbus a330s and a3, then the game was up. we are being told that airlines are preferring smaller and smallerjets, does airlines are preferring smaller and smaller jets, does that airlines are preferring smaller and smallerjets, does that mean the whole, within the aviation industry is now busted 7 whole, within the aviation industry is now busted? no. most certainly they will continue to connect helps gci’oss they will continue to connect helps across the world. heathrow, of course, it is the best way to extra ct course, it is the best way to extract more capacity when you have run out of slots and the same goes for dubai, paris, amsterdam, frankfurt, hong kong and so on. but the economics just frankfurt, hong kong and so on. but the economicsjust don't frankfurt, hong kong and so on. but the economics just don't work as well as more modern, 21st century aircraft, using two engines, you haven't got the same investment in ground infrastructure and ultimately there aren't that many routes where you can guarantee day in, day out, to fill 500 seats on average. and if you take the world's most prestigious, biggest intercontinental aero which is

london to new york, there is a grand total of no airbus of your shots on that shadow, but dozens of other types of planes, but there is simply no appetite for the a380 because business travellers want frequency above comfort. and it is profitable when it is full but every empty seat burns a hole in the finances of airlines? yes. airlines are managing to fill more of their planes than it used to be in the olden days, when you were doing really well if you filled it to 75%. these days you are looking at much higher load factors and the worst sight for any airline executives is row after row of empty seats and the a380, it is if it is flying empty it is proving extremely expensive. because you have got four

engines rather than two, they are not as competitive as they need to be. , thank you.. the irony is that asa be. , thank you.. the irony is that as a passenger you just hope for a i’ow as a passenger you just hope for a row of empty seats, don't you?! let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. renault has reported a fall in 2018 profits, hit by collapsing diesel sales and a lower contribution from its japanese partner nissan. revenue slipped 2.3% to $64.7 billion, while operating profit fell 6.3% to just over $4 billion. these are the first annual results since the shock arrest of former boss carlos ghosn. renault‘s new chairman jean—dominique senard is in tokyo for talks with nissan executives to discuss their alliance in the wake of mr ghosn‘s detention. as he arrived injapan, mr senard said it was not the time to discuss whether he would take the helm at nissan, in which renault has a 43% stake.

mr ghosn has been in custody since november on financial misconduct charges, which he denies. 0nline platforms will be forced to pay publishers and creators for the content that appears on their sites, under a revamp of eu copyright rules agreed on wednesday. the move comes despite intense lobbying by tech giants including google and facebook, which will now have to install filters to stop the uploading of copyrighted material. smaller start—ups will be exempted. jeans maker levi strauss has filed documents for a listing on the new york stock exchange, planning a return to the stock market after more than three decades. it's thought the 145—year old company, which is controlled by the descendants of the founder, could be worth as much as $5 billion. let's go to germany now, where it's been confirmed that europe's biggest economyjust dodged falling into recession at the end of last year.

in fact it came as close as is possible without actually tipping into recession. in the three months to december, growth was flat, at 0.0%. that followed a contraction of 0.2% for the previous three months. the technical definition of recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. joining us is jack allen, senior europe economist at capital economics. is it the car sector to blame? we have been talking about the car industry and deal sales —— diesel sales falling, is that what has dragged europe's biggest economy to a standstill? well, car production in the second half of last year was very wea k in the second half of last year was very weak across the eu. and that seems to have largely been a result of new emissions tests that were

introduced in september and car producers had trouble meeting those regulations and so production took a hit. that certainly is partly to blame for the contraction in the third—quarter last year. but actually towards the end of the year, we saw car production start to bounce back. so while that has been a drag it is clearly not the only thing that's been going on. if you look at germany across 2018, we've seen a look at germany across 2018, we've seen a pretty broad—based slowdown in growth, we've seen household consumption slowing, business investment slowing and export growth is well. and what's particularly worrying is that the early signs for 2019 suggest that a strong rebound is unlikely to and so how do you think policymakers will respond to this latest figure, which is lacklustre at best? so, the government has planned some tax cuts and spending increases in the hope of giving the economy a bit of a lift. but really, those changes are not on a scale which is large enough to turn things around. so then, of course, attention might turn to the

european central bank, which in theory could cut interest rates or it could restart its quantitative easing program. but in the near term at least that seems unlikely. interest rates are already at record lows and it only recently stopped its quantitative easing purchases. so we can't really see the central bank stepping in the next few months to shore up the economy. and with the problems facing the world economy, which we often talk about the global economic slowdown we're seeing as a result of the tensions between the two biggest economies, the us and china, presumably germany is far more vulnerable to a slowdown in the global economy because it is so in the global economy because it is so dependent on exporting to other nations? if we focus on tariffs specifically, the tariffs which so far have been imposed by the us on the eu are very small, just on element and steel, a very small share of the eu economy. but president trump has threatened to increase tariffs on car exports, for example. and that would be

particular worrying for germany, because it is such a major car exporter. if those tariffs are avoided, still given that the global economy is slowing, that is going to hit germany pretty hard. and so we think that the economy will probably slow from a growth of about 1.5% last year to something like 1% this year. and even with that the risks are probably to the downside. thank you very much for talking through that with us. there's been a surprise increase in chinese exports in january. will it ease concerns about a cooling chinese economy? stephen mcdonell is in beijing. is this going to be a breath of relief to those in the region? well, ina way, relief to those in the region? well, in a way, that figure represents a kind of one—off blip if you like, because all these chinese companies we re because all these chinese companies were trying to sell lots of stuff

before the big spring festival break. so i don't think it changes the fact that you have still got this big impasse between china and the us and in a cold and snowy beijing's new have these senior government representatives sitting down here today and tomorrow to try and find a way through this trade war. interestingly, though, in terms of those trade figures, sure, china has a lot more to lose, in a way, because it sells more to the us. but the figures released today show a 4196 the figures released today show a a1% decrease year—on—year of us imports to china as well. that's this year compared to the same time last year. so, somebody in the us is hurting a lot over this as well, putting the pressure on those negotiators, quite apart from that looming deadline of first march. stephen mcdonell, thank you very much. wall street ended on quite a

positive note on friday after donald trump said he would let the deal deadline slide if both parties were making some headway. credit suisse, however, say that the markets might start to steady. switzerland's second biggest bank has been talking today because its results have been out of. in fact they have reported their first out of. in fact they have reported theirfirst annual out of. in fact they have reported their first annual profit since 2014. joining us isjeremy stretch, head of currency strategy at cibc world markets. good to see you as always, jeremy. so, president trump talking about an extension to that deadline which would have seen the tariffs ratchet up would have seen the tariffs ratchet up potentially to 25% on 200 billion dollars worth of chinese goods — are we seeing a warm dollars worth of chinese goods — are we seeing a warm response to dollars worth of chinese goods — are we seeing a warm response to that softening in the markets? of course we are still talking about trump is minded to do this, we do not know for sure, but certainly the markets are reacting relatively positively to the story. he is talking about 60 days, the chinese reportedly were

hoping for a 90 day standstill but nevertheless it underlines the presumption that the talks which are ongoing in bashan currently looked as though they are making some progress in. and that it does allow this process, the deadline to be avoided, we can keep kicking that can down the road and maybe it will provide a bit of a boost to the confidence of the markets. of course there are too sides to every debate and on the other side of the trade talks, of course, donald trump on one side, and this more positive data coming out in terms of exports from china — does that change the balance of power? i'm not sure it necessarily changes the balance of power but i think what we have to be minded of is the fact that because of the lunar new year holidays, you a lwa ys of the lunar new year holidays, you always get potential spikes in the data. and also there may well have been a realisation that those export numbers, which were substantially better—than—expected, might well have been an attempt by chinese manufacturers to beat that first march deadline and actually export to the us as well. so i think there

was are two factors which have amplified the export numbers into the start of the year. it does provide a little more ammunition for beige and perhaps but itjust underlines the stakes which are at play here, we're talking about very large numbers and two economies which are very significantly interconnected even if perhaps mr trump would not like to acknowledge it publicly. still to come... it's valentine's, of course. and there will be a few corks popped today, but what does it take to produce a quality sparkling wine from scratch? you're with business live from bbc news. british fishermen overwhelmingly voted to leave the eu, expecting restrictions on boats

from the continent to reinvigorate their business. but the uk exports most of what it catches and imports most of what it eats, so how is the fishing industry preparing for brexit? ben thompson is on the quayside in peterhead, scotland to find out. welcome to peterhead fish market, just north of aberdeen, and all the stuff that's down here will get sold this morning. these boxes are haddock down here, going for about £120 this morning. caughtjust in the waters here. but what's interesting is that this place is dependent on fishing, yet most fishermen in the uk voted overwhelmingly for brexit, and that was to regain control of the waters here. but at the same time, most of what is sold here is sold to the european union. so, what could brexit mean for the fishermen and the communities that rely on the fishing here in scotland? well, with me is elaine from the clyde fishermen's association. elaine, morning. morning.

i mean, look, it's so funny, isn't it? we see all of this here, yet most of it destined for europe and any delays at the border in the event of a no deal brexit could be disastrous for this industry, couldn't it? yes. these stocks are mainly finfish, but yes, a lot of this goes to the eu. any fish product, yes, any delays, are disastrous, particularly as well for anyone who's fishing shellfish because about 87% of that goes to the eu, and that is a time—critical market. and yet one of the issues, of course, was about regaining control of the waters, making sure that fishermen here had more control over what they were able to catch, and that was a huge issue in the brexit referendum? yes. it was a huge issue, but i think some of those policies were domestic as well and could have been reformed. but i mean, i have a member who phoned me at quarter past three in the morning to let me know that he couldn't catch one box of monkfish, while 21 lorries went to spain. so that has been a massive issue, it's been a redistribution issue all of the time. elaine, it's good to talk to you, thanks so much. so, the market well underway, they'll be hoping to sell all of this stuff here this morning. but clearly big issues and big questions for what this industry can

do in the event of brexit, or certainly a no deal brexit, given the potential for delays of what ultimately are very perishable items, things that don't have a long shelflife if they're stuck in lorries at the border. nice wellies! i think he wins the battle of the boots! according to the daily telegraph, patisserie valerie has been saved by an equity firm in ireland. your're watching business live — our top story... that story is trending today, the story about the airbus a380 chat we will reduce some of your tweets

later on. now its valentine s day, so there may be a few corks popped today. not only today, in fact. here in the uk, sales of sparkling wine and champagne, combined, reached a record high in 2018, when brits bought almost £2.2 billion, that's 2.83 billion dollars, worth of fizz. that equates to almost 165 million bottles of bubbly sold in the 12 months. and while france may be the best known producer of sparkling wines, there is an english wine industry, albeit small, with some 400 vineyards spread thinly across the southern half of england and wales. 0ne estate is rathfinny, and our next guest is the co—founder of the family—owned vineyard. syrup, welcome to the programme.

english sparkling wine, not champagne! i have heard quite a lot in recent years about english sparkling wine, it seems to be getting quite competitive, why did you decide to go into it? well, one of the main reasons was my husband told me he was retiring aged 46 and i thought we ought to find something else for him to do. and the other one was that we did a blind tasting of six bottles of champagne and six bottles of english sparkling wine with our friends in the english sparkling wine came out tops so we thought there was a business in that. there seems to be a business in it but it does seem to be quite a premium offering, when you look at what is being produced here in the uk and a lot of it ends up for export? yes. our aim is to export 50% of what we produce, we have already launched in hong kong and we are aiming to launch in new york next year. but 50% of it is on sale here, not just

next year. but 50% of it is on sale here, notjust in london and the south—east but we're going out the regions as well. and in terms of the weather, britain is perhaps not known for its predictable, glorious, hot summer days, how dependent are you on the fluctuations of the weather? well, obviously, we're farmers at the end of the day trade but where we are in sussex is the perfect county for english sparkling wine and partly that is because of the climate, we're only 80 miles north of the champagne region and it is also because of the chalk that we are on and the people in the area, the expertise that we have. shall we try this? i can't sit here looking at this and...! what is this one? this is our rose, which is predominantly made from pinot noir so predominantly made from pinot noir so you should be tasting breadfruit. .. so you should be tasting breadfruit. . . that so you should be tasting breadfruit. .. that is absolutely delicious, even if it is ten to nine in the morning! it is ten to nine in

the evening somewhere in the world so the evening somewhere in the world so we're 0k! the thing to remember is that english sparkling wines are winning the top awards, so at the last international wine competition it was english sparkling wines which came away with more gold medals than any other region in the world. but this is a long—term investment, you have yet to break even, it is hard, isn't it? it's a huge amount of money that needs to go into this, turning a field into a huge wine estate and then, you know, you don't know whether or not it is actually going to work, whether the weather will be on your side, when you might get your investment back, so how do you plan for that as a business? well, we did our planning when we bought the land in 2010 and as to the business plan that mark put together is still pretty much on track, actually. and we are to break

evenin track, actually. and we are to break even in the next two years. but what we have to offer is notjust our sparkling wine, but also and associated tourism business that goes alongside that, which has proved incredibly popular. so, we see people with a real interest coming to the estate to come to our fine dining restaurant, to come and stay... so i think we're onto a good thing. thank you very much for coming in and talking to us.|j thing. thank you very much for coming in and talking to us. i think we need to do an outside broadcaster! in a moment we're going to be taking a look through the business pages but first, here is how to get in touch with us. what other business

stories has the media been taking an interest in? levi strauss, the jeans levi strauss, thejeans maker has decided to go public with the company decided to go public with the com pa ny after 34 yea rs ? decided to go public with the company after 34 years? that's right. it is very much going back as a public company, so it had 14 years on the stock market in the ‘70s and early 80s and it then went private and it now seems as though the company is looking to try and attract some additional capital into the business, they're not selling the business, they're not selling the whole of the business but intentionally the total business

will be valued at around 5 billion. so it is an interesting question because of course tastes and fashions are changing and perhaps moving away from that denim orientation which levi is founded upon. it will be interesting to see how it plays out. ijust want upon. it will be interesting to see how it plays out. i just want to pick up with you on the story we we re pick up with you on the story we were leading on, the a380, are you a fan? i have travelled extensively but i have never actually found flown on a a380 which is quite order. it is symptomatically of the reason why the story is playing out, because i travel a lot but the airlines that i travel on do not run a380$ airlines that i travel on do not run a380s perhaps because of the interests of the airlines of not being quite in—line with the demands of the passengers. let's bring in some of your comments on twitter. this one says... they misjudged the market and the way commercial flying is developing. fantastic engineering achievement but it is airbus's howard hughes moment. this one says... i assume the ones already in

service will stay in the air, therefore we will be seeing the a380 for some time to come. very fair point and this one says... i believe it is the end of in aviation but let's hope airbus's choices for the better. it was time to update the fleet to more innovative, cost—effective and more friendly fleets. we always enjoy looking through your comments. we certainly do, keep them coming into us. the conversation can go on whilst we are off there as well. and we have been saying it is the 14th, so i have got you a valentine's day treat! and jeremy, i didn't want you to feel left out so there is one for you as well! so sweet! thank you very much for watching. have a great day, bye— bye. still drawing up mild airfrom the

south. less moisture through the day, so most of us should get to see some sunshine, but we have got a fly in the ointment with dense fog patches around through central and southern england at the moment. and they should clear as the more —— morning goes on sunshine developing, a little hazy through southern scotland, but certainly not spoiling the feel of the day with temperatures between 12 and 13 celsius, but to the north on the east, we could see 15. as we head to the evening, most places hang on to

clear skies, but we expect temperatures to fall away towards central and eastern areas. and the return of some mist and fog. and that could be dense in places. and the weather fronts are making further inroads through friday. for many of us, another decent day, and once the mist and fog has lifted, plenty of sunshine on offer and it will cloud over northern ireland in west scotland where the wind will pick up as the rain edges its way in before the end of play, but temperatures could be up on today's values, 13 or 14 celsius is possible. that mild theme could continue into the weekend. through saturday there were southern areas. we will start to see the rain edges little closer to the far north of

scotla nd little closer to the far north of scotland and the winds will pick up, but the temperatures are in double digits and mild for the time of year. this weather front will advance and we will see a dry start to sunday but we will see some rain pushing in from the west. and it will turn a little breezy as well. . you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines. shamima begum — one of three schoolgirls who left london in 2015 to join the islamic state group, says she wants to return to the uk so her unborn baby can be looked after. she went out there against the

advice of the foreign office and went and engaged in the support or activities of terrorism, and if you come back, you must be prepared to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted. the prime ministerfaces another rebellion on brexit in parliament as mps debate the next steps in the process. the european plane manufacturer airbus says it's going to stop producing the a380 superjumbo — the world's largest passenger airliner.