Is Airbus A380 Already A Long Haul International Air Travel Icon?

Whilst reading the Malaysia Airports's Convergence magazine (Vol. 32 2015), I came across two pages dedicating about the launch of Air China's scheduled commercial service to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. What struck me in writing today's blog is that the page also shows an (obvious) outline of Airbus A380 with Air China logo prominently displayed in its tail - which got me thinking, is Airbus A380, dubbed unofficially as 'Super Jumbo' already an icon for international long haul air travel? 

The picture in question (taken by me) - As of December 2015, Air China does not operate or having A380 in its order book.

Some years ago, I watched a documentary featuring the history of Boeing 747. It also featured Joe Sutter, the man behind the development team of the well-known Jumbo Jet. But, more interestingly, one of the persons involved in the latest development of Boeing 747-8 (I can't remember his name) was skeptical about A380 trumping the B747, saying that the latter is far well known among the public due to its iconic 'hump' compared with a more conventional looking A380. 

Since introduced in 1969, Boeing 747 a.k.a. Jumbo Jet has been an enduring figure of international long haul air travel. -Source-

Since entering service more than 8 years ago, the public perception of A380 remains high - it is bigger and quieter than B747. But, cumulative sales of the Super Jumbo is still lagging behind the Jumbo (except when comparing to Boeing 747-8 which has even lower sales). Most airlines are increasingly into point-to-point network, helped by developments of smaller, but more efficient long haul planes such as Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, bypassing busy airport hubs, where A380 is designed for. 

Sales of A380 has been somewhat tepid and may not match with those cumulative numbers of Boeing 747s in production for some years to come. -Source-

But image is still matters despite the reality. Just the other day, I notice a travel agency uses an outline of A380 in its marketing. Not sure whether the untrained (note: non-avgeek) eye would notice straightaway it is clearly a Super Jumbo. But it actually is - higher (or thicker) than usual fuselage height, rounded nose, four engines underneath the expansive wing (and not forgetting those sharklets - no quad Airbus jets have those other than A380) and the slightly taller tail section than the competitor.

So, it begs the question, is the perception of A380 as a long haul international air travel icon among the public already persists? Probably yes. But, does that reciprocally accepted by general travel agencies or companies as mascots in their marketing? That depends. My somewhat myopic view suggests that it is certainly picking-up.