Airbus to stop production of A380 superjumbo

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus will stop making its A380 "superjumbo", the world's largest passenger aircraft, it announced in a statement on Thursday.

Production of the jumbo jet will end by 2021, after the A380’s biggest customer, Emirates, and a handful of remaining buyers receive their last orders.

Dubai-based Emirates will cut its current A380 order to 14 from 53, Airbus said in a statement on Thursday.

"As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021," said Airbus chief executive Tom Enders.

In a separate statement, Emirates said it would purchase 70 smaller A330neo and A350 widebodies listed at $21.4 billion.