With so many developments happening around the Airbus A380,
and so many people interested in these developments, we thought
we would provide one big summary video to cover the state of the superjumbo in 2023.
A380 airframes continue to be reactivated around the world among its handful of operators.
At the same time, the jet has been reintroduced to numerous cities as a
way to handle surging post-pandemic travel demand. There have also been a few notable
incidents with the type - all news that we’ll cover in today’s video. So, let’s get started!
In terms of airlines that returned the A380 to commercial service in 2023,
we have so far seen two operators: Germany’s Lufthansa, and UAE-based Etihad.
On June 1st, Lufthansa operated its first post-pandemic A380
service. This was a flight from Munich to Boston.
The airline is listed by Planespotters.net as having a fleet of 10 A380s, with three of
these being active and the other seven listed as parked. Out of Munich, New York, Boston,
Los Angeles, and Bangkok are cities that are seeing, or will see Lufthansa A380s in 2023.
In response to a question posed by Simple Flying during Lufthansa's 1st
quarter media update, Carsten Spohr was quoted as saying:
"We are so glad we made our decision on the Airbus A380 which, one year after we made it,
turns out to be even more important than it was when we made it."
The airline CEO noted that many people in and around Lufthansa were glad to see
the jet return to service, most certainly amid delivery delays for new aircraft. Spohr stated:
“Passengers are happy, crews are happy, and no aircraft gets as much attention
in the media as every single A380. Let's look at [the delivery delays]
from the positive side. Here's an icon coming back. We'll wait and see how long
that lasts once we have a bit more information from Airbus and Boeing."
Nearly two months later, on July 25th, Etihad celebrated its own A380-return-to-service.
The carrier marked the milestone with a service from Abu Dhabi to London.
Commenting on Etihad resuming A380 operations,
Etihad pilot and training captain, Jihad Matta told Simple Flying,
"The 380 has a very special place in our hearts. It's an absolutely beautiful aircraft to fly. Our
crew loves it, the pilots love it, and our guests love it as well. Being able to fly
the first commercial flight out of London is a very important moment for me... You
couldn't give me any better present than giving me this flight back to Abu Dhabi."
Like Lufthansa, Etihad is also listed by Planespotters.net as having a fleet of 10 A380s.
In terms of current operations, however, the airline has two active and eight parked.
Simple Flying reported at the end of last year that Etihad has plans to
remove a total of four A380s from storage, all used exclusively for London flights.
While it’s great to acknowledge and celebrate the airlines that have more
recently re-introduced the A380 to commercial service, there has also been a lot of news
surrounding carriers that have already been flying the superjumbo for a year or two.
For the world’s largest operator of the type,
Emirates was listed as having 72 daily departing A380 flights from its Dubai hub for August 2023.
This accounted for about a third of the airline's total flights.
With the 90 active superjumbos operated by Emirates,
schedule analysis shows that the type is flying to 49 destinations globally
with the airline. These are spread among 33 countries in seven regions.
There are 17 destinations in Europe served by Emirates A380s, along with 13 in Asia,
6 in Australasia, and 6 in North America. There are 4 destinations in Africa,
two in the Middle East, and one in South America.
London to Dubai will be one route where you’ll find plenty of A380s. For Emirates flights out
of Dubai, London Heathrow sees a whopping nine daily flights! At least for the month of August.
However, it doesn’t stop there as British Airways will be flying the same route with
its own quadjets. Interestingly, the UK carrier has decided to add double-daily Airbus A380
flights to Dubai between October 29th and November 13th. The airline currently operates just one A380
service to Dubai (but also using the 787 and 777 for other daily services to the Emirati city).
All 12 of British Airways’ A380s are active,
with these jets mainly serving larger cities in the United States. BA also
flies the A380 to Johannesburg with a current frequency of two times daily.
We won’t go through EVERY A380 operator and the destinations served, but we CAN tell you
that the following airlines are also actively flying the type for their passenger operations:
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) South Korean carriers Asiana and Korean Air
Australian airline Qantas
Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines
Believe it or not, a NEW airbus a380 operator is in the works.
If you haven’t heard the news already, a UK start-up known as Global Airlines
has already acquired an A380 and is in the process of acquiring three more.
The carrier plans to deploy the aircraft on routes between London and the US,
hoping to use the superjumbo's spacious cabins to redefine the flying experience.
Thinking outside of the box, the firm’s CEO wants to continue innovating with his new airline.
In the past, there have been talks of the company introducing a quote-unquote "gamer
class" along with business, premium, and economy. This initiative would see passengers pay a premium
to play PlayStation and Xbox consoles on board. The airline has yet to launch passenger services,
but we’ll most certainly be keeping a close eye on the progress of its operations!
On the other end, we know that the A380 won’t be around forever.
For some carriers, such as Emirates, the full exit date is quote far into the future. However,
for Qatar Airways, we heard directly from the CEO that his superjumbos will go offline once
enough new aircraft enter service. This comes several months after the airline
ended its drawn-out legal dispute with Airbus over A350 surface degradation.
During a roundtable with journalists at the 2023 Paris Air Show, Al Baker explained:
“We have already taken impairment on those A380s, and of course, eventually, over a period of time,
we will then ground them again. Out of the 10, only eight are now back in service. Two
are still on the ground, which we don't intend to use…It will be phased out as we receive airplanes.
The A350s were also for fleet replacement. So,
the A380s will have to be taken off gradually over a couple of years time.”
In terms of notable A380 incidents, we thankfully haven’t seen anything
catastrophic take place. However, there were a few events to take note of.
On July 11th, shortly after an Emirates A380 touched down at London Gatwick,
it came to a halt and was seen stuck on the runway. Ground crews immediately reacted and
rushed to meet the aircraft on the runway. As the plane came to a stop,
the airport promptly shut down the only main runway suitable for large commercial
aircraft. This resulted in the diversion of several flights to other London-area airports.
Days later, on July 13th, a freshly re-activated Qantas A380 encountered
an issue with its autopilot system en route to London heathrow.
The aircraft managed to perform a safe landing and turnaround. On this next flight,
the same aircraft, on its flight to Singapore, encountered issues with its navigation system
whilst flying over central Europe. This prompted the crew to turnaround and divert back to London.
Finally, it’s worth noting that some other issues exist with the type. In early July, Airbus
announced that it was going to be bringing back some of the 251 A380s it has produced to assess
the status of their wings. All of this is due to Emirates reporting accelerated wing-spar craking.
According to an airline spokesperson, Emirates is working closely with both
Airbus and its Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) partners to carry
out the inspection work and potential repairs as efficiently as possible.
The carrier also specified that a relevant part of the inspection will occur at Emirates'
Engineering Center, while Airbus will provide additional MRO support in Toulouse.
The grounding of each aircraft during the inspection will vary according to the results
of the assessments. However, Emirates and Airbus estimate that a minimum grounding time of 60 days
per aircraft will be required in order to assess and possibly, fix the wing damage properly.
It has been two years since Airbus saw the last A380 leaving Toulouse's
Jean-Luc Lagardere assembly hall. With the ending of A380 production,
a large part of this facility has been reorganized to become the assembly line for
the single-aisle Airbus A321neo. This assembly line was officially inaugurated on July 10th.
So, there’s your mid-2023 update on the status of the A380. As we mentioned earlier, we’ll have
to keep a close eye on Global Airlines and its journey to operate the superjumbo. Otherwise,
2023 seems to be a great year to fly the type - particularly out of London Heathrow!
What do you think of the current status of this jet? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!
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