This month we passed the 16th anniversary of the Airbus A380’s first-ever test flight,
an event that attracted immense media attention. The A380 would enter service
with Singapore Airlines just over two years later, in October 2007. However, the first
A380 has remained at Airbus as a testbed, rather than flying commercially. But where is it today?
The reveal of Airbus’s prototype A380 was a highly anticipated occasion.
On January 18th, 2005, the aircraft was unveiled as the European manufacturer’s
means of entering the ultra-high-capacity market. This was a sector that Boeing had
dominated since 1970 with its iconic 747. With this in mind, Airbus put together a
rather grand unveiling ceremony at its base in Toulouse, France.
The prototype that the company revealed on January 18th, 2005 bore the registration F-WWOW. The final
three letters of this designation certainly reflected the general response to both the
aircraft and its unveiling. The BBC reported that: “It was reminiscent of opening ceremonies for
Olympic Games, complete with dancers resembling angels, floating through blue smoke clouds.”
Just over three months later, F-WWOW made its first-ever test flight, on April 27th,
2005. The ‘superjumbo’ took to the skies above Toulouse for the first time, with its six-person
crew headed by Jacques Rosay, Airbus’s chief test pilot. The aircraft departed Toulouse at 10:29
local time and was airborne for nearly four hours. During this time, the superjumbo successfully
satisfied all of the test flight’s primary objectives., touching down in Toulouse at 14:23.
Its arrival was greeted by huge crowds of journalists, avgeeks, and even the general public.
But what has become of this aircraft since its maiden voyage nearly 16 years ago? According to
Planespotters.net, the aircraft, which is named after Jacques Rosay, has remained at Airbus
ever since, rather than entering commercial service. During this time, it has served the
European manufacturer as a testbed aircraft. The aircraft was even used as a testbed for
the A350-1000’s new engine – the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97. The development engine was mounted on the
A380’s inner left engine pylon, replacing one of the aircraft’s Trent 900 engines.
More recently, the aircraft has been placed into extended storage for two periods.
These were between February 2017 and January 2019, and from September 2019 to November 2020.
However, since leaving storage last year, it has been relatively active, making several test
flights, specific reasons unknown. RadarBox.com reports that all of
these have been quote-unquote ‘flights to nowhere’ flying out of Toulouse and back.
Their durations have ranged from just half an hour to a far longer six-and-a-half-hour jaunt.
It made its most recent journey on March 25th, departing Toulouse at 10:53 and landing four
hours and 53 minutes later. Despite never entering commercial service, it is encouraging to see that
Airbus still has a use for the first-ever A380. Do you remember the maiden flight of the
world’s first Airbus A380? Let us know where you were by leaving a comment.