INTRODUCTION:
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(A380 Sustainable Flight) |
The A380 is a large double decker wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger plane.
History:
Airbus started it's studies in 1988, and the project was announced in 1990 to challenge the dominance of Boeing 747 in the long-haul market. Furthermore the project was designated by 1994, by 2000 Airbus had launched the A380 programe which cost $10.7 Billion. The first prototype was unveiled in 2005 and due to some wiring problem it delayed it's first delivery till 2007 to Singapore Airlines.
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(Singapore Airlines A380 First Delivery 15 years ago) |
Deliveries & the Last Order:
After the product launch Airbus continued with it's deliveries which peaked at 30 aircrafts in the year 2012 and 2014, remained normal in the rest years. However the largest costumer Emirates announced it's last 123rd A380 aircraft where Airbus also announced to end the production by 2021 with the delivery of it's 251st A380, Hence the $25 Billion was not recouped.
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| (Emirates Last A380 Delivery) |
Some airlines began to scrap the giant of the skies before the arrival of COVID-19. While some airlines, such as British Airways and Emirates, remain committed to the type for the foreseeable future, it can't be said that COVID-19 didn't have a significant impact on the giant of the skies' future. Some airlines will not bring the Airbus A380 back from storage, including Air France and Lufthansa. In total 15 airlines have used the A380 which you could read below airline by airline.
Air France
The Airbus A380 entered the Air France fleet in 2009, with the airline taking ten aircraft. Even before the arrival of the pandemic, Air France had signaled the end of the Airbus A380 program, with the first aircraft operating its last revenue flight on December 31st, 2019. This aircraft, F-HPJB, took its final flight to Knock, Ireland, on February 20th, where it was dismantled.
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| (Air France A380) |
All Nippon Airways
All Nippon Airways (ANA) was the last customer to take delivery of its first new Airbus A380 and also had the smallest order of new Airbus A380s. The carrier, Japan's largest, purchased three of the jets with the intention of operating them solely between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu in Hawaii.
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| (ANA A380) |
Asiana Airlines
Asiana Airlines is one of two South Korean airlines to operate the giant of the skies. The carrier hasn't announced any firm retirement plans for the jet, though reports have suggested that the aircraft could be retired within half a decade it's unclear when these jets will return to the skies. For now, the entire fleet remains in storage at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN).
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| (Asiana A380) |
British Airways
British Airways seems to be the most committed airline to the Airbus A380 through choice. The airline brought back the giant of the skies late last year and has signed maintenance agreements covering all 12 aircraft until August 2027.
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| (British Airways A380) |
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines is taking an interesting approach when it comes to the Airbus A380. The airline was the only one to keep operating the giant of the skies right throughout the pandemic. However, it seems as though the airline's COVID-19-related A380 reaction may have been delayed rather than skipped. In late February, it was reported that two of China Southern's Airbus A380s had been flown to Mojave, an aircraft storage facility in California. Both aircraft have since been re-registered to a new owner.
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| (CSA A380) |
Emirates
Emirates remains the largest operator of the Airbus A380 by a considerable margin. The airline took delivery of 121 Airbus A380s, including the last one to be built by Airbus. 73 are currently active across the Emirates network, while 48 remain in storage, predominately at Dubai World Central Airport (DWC). Emirates plans to operate the Airbus A380 until the mid-2030s, but this is partly not through choice. Firstly, the airline won't want to be seen scrapping lots of new aircraft, but the airline would also have a vast capacity deficit without the Airbus A380.With that being said, two of the Emirates Airbus A380 fleet have been dismantled to date. Emirates dismantled its oldest A380, A6-EDA, in-house. Meanwhile, A6-EDB was scrapped in Tarbes, France (LDE). Airbus is set to auction parts of this second scrapped A380.
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| (Emirates A380) |
Etihad Airways
Just down the road from Emirates is Etihad Airways. While also based in the UAE, Etihad took a much smaller order of just ten Airbus A380s. All ten haven't flown passengers since the start of the pandemic.
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| (Etihad A380) |
Hi Fly
Hi Fly has been the only second-hand user of the Airbus A380, and it looks as though things will stay this way moving forward. The airline took MSN 6 after it had served almost a decade with Singapore Airlines as 9V-SKC.Hi Fly had hoped that there would be a big market for a wet lease Airbus A380 though this failed to really materialize, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the pandemic rendered the aircraft's services largely unwanted, and Hi Fly decided that a wet lease A380 was not economical. As such, the plane was retired. It now resides at the Tarmac Aerosave facility in Tarbes, France (LDE).
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| (Hi Fly A380) |
Korean Air
Korean Air has also followed a strange approach with its fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft. At the height of the pandemic, the Korean carrier grounded its entire fleet at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN). On September 28th, a single A380 (MSN 68) completed a test flight. Since then, the aircraft has been flying to Guangzhou, China, around once a week while the remainder of the fleet remains grounded.
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| (Korean A380) |
Lufthansa
Like Air France, Lufthansa has been one of the few airlines to confirm that the Airbus A380 will not be returning to service. The airline used the A380 for repatriation flights and kept a contingent stored at Frankfurt Airport for around a year, though the last jet left for good in September 2021. All 14 of Lufthansa's Airbus A380s remain registered to the airline, and like the Air France and Etihad fleets, they have been spread between the two Tarmac Aerosave facilities in Tarbes, France, and Teruel, Spain.
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| (Lufthansa A380) |
Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia Airlines has six Airbus A380s in its fleet. The airline's entire Airbus A380 fleet is currently in storage at Kuala Lumpur Airport, though it seems unlikely to return to service. While it's unclear if the bid to sell any aircraft was successful, we do know that all the A380s remain registered to Malaysia Airlines and stored in Kuala Lumpur. Simple Flying recently asked the airline's COO if taking the A380 was a mistake, to which he said the aircraft was the right decision at the time.
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| (Malaysia A380) |
Qantas
At the height of the pandemic, the weather forecast wasn't looking good for the Australian flag carrier's fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft. The airline's entire fleet was sent to California for long-term storage, with many wondering if they would ever leave.
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| (Qantas A380) |
Qatar Airways
While Malaysia Airlines doesn't think that the Airbus A380 was a mistake, Qatar Airways' CEO would beg to differ. Speaking to Simple Flying a year ago, Akbar Al Baker called the Airbus A380 the airline's biggest mistake. That hasn't stopped the airline from bringing the jets back, though.
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| (Qatar A380) |
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines was the launch customer of the Airbus A380 and the second-largest carrier behind Emirates. The airline took delivery of 24 jets, though it became the first to start retiring the giant of the skies as early as 2018.Singapore Airlines has retired 12 of its 24 A380s, though only seven seem to have been deregistered according to ch-aviation's data. (9V-SKA through 9V-SKE, 9V-SKG, and 9V-SKH). One of the airline's A380s became the Hi Fly A380 mentioned above. Meanwhile, a couple have been scrapped in Tarbes, while the airline also scrapped two in-house at Singapore Changi Airport.
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| (Singapore A380) |
Thai Airways
Last but not least on our list of Airbus A380 operators is Thai Airways. While the airline was facing extreme difficulties at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it recently took delivery of two brand new Boeing 777s, suggesting that things aren't so bad today. The future of the Thai Airways Airbus A380s remains somewhat murky with some conflicting reports, but the underlying line appears to be that Thai Airways likely won't resume Airbus A380 flights. In late 2020, it was reported that the airline was looking to sell two of its A380s, and in February 2021, it was reported that the airline would retire all its A380s.
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| (Thai A380) |
The Future of AIRBUS A380:
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| (AIRBUS A380 ZEROe) |
Today, the A380 MSN1 test aircraft is earmarked for a new role: to take the lead on testing the technologies that will be vital to bringing the world’s first zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035.
“The A380 MSN1 is an excellent flight laboratory platform for new hydrogen technologies,” says Mathias Andriamisaina, Airbus ZEROe Demonstrator Leader. “It's a safe and reliable platform that is highly versatile to test a wide range of zero-emission technologies. In addition, the platform can comfortably accommodate the large flight test instrumentation that will be needed to analyse the performance of the hydrogen in the hydrogen-propulsion system.”
Glenn Llewellyn introduces the #ZEROe demonstrator
YOUTUBE LINK: Glenn Liewellyn introduces the #ZEROe demonstrator
AUTHOR:
Safwan Waqas
16 years old
O'Levels
Karachi, Pakistan
Journalist-Aviation Enthusiast-Student having a deep background in publishing & reporting aviation, I like to combine my love for aviation as I am a keen observer of ever changing aviation trends around the world and particularly in Asia and Europe.
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