Airbus pulled the plug on its iconic
So, why did Airbus eventually cancel production of the A380 on Valentine's Day in 2019? In part, the industry pivoted towards direct, point-to-point traffic that allowed planes like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, as well as the Boeing 777, to thrive.
Emirates plans to start retiring Airbus A380s in 2032
Emirates has roughly 120 A380s in its fleet, representing roughly half of the world's total A380 deliveries. For some airlines, the A380 offered too much capacity, while for Emirates, the airline can't get enough of the plane.
The Airbus A380 will return to long haul service with Lufthansa in June. Around ten months ago, Lufthansa announced it would bring the Airbus back into service this summer.
The Airbus A380, once touted as the future of air travel, has officially come to the end of its production. After over a decade of service, Airbus announced in February 2019 that it would cease production of the A380 due to a lack of demand for the world's largest passenger aircraft.
Back in 2019, at their annual conference, Airbus officials announced that the A350 would replace the A380 as the company's premier passenger plane due to financial factors. The A380 production ended with the departure of former Airbus CEO Tom Enders due to a lack of demand; the company had 17 orders in the backlog.
By 23 May 2024, all 67 A380s earmarked for the retrofit programme will be back in service and Emirates will then begin work on 53 of its Boeing 777s. By March 2025, all 120 retrofitted aircraft will be back in service.
As carriers slowly return the Airbus A380 to service, a significant number of aircraft remain on the ground.
Qantas currently has six A380s active with another two being prepared for return into service. Two more A380s that are currently stored are expected to return to service by 2024. Currently, the aircraft can be seen on flights from Sydney to Los Angeles, from Sydney to Singapore, and from Singapore to London Heathrow.
The Dubai-based carrier has a fleet of 121 A380s, of which 87 are in operation at the present time.
The final fate of the A380
Since the A380s are still in storage, they could be rescued by an airline looking to give them a new lease of life. Some of the A380s are just 10 or 11 years old, making them very young to be scrapped.
The A380 series aircraft have a lifespan of around 25 years or 60,000 flight hours.
Supers in retirement
Air France swiftly retired their entire fleet of 10 A380s not long after the pandemic halted international travel, putting nearly all of them into deep storage by mid-2020.
The four-engine A380 is only profitable with a high load factor, and only the world's largest airports have facilities to handle the aircraft. Such reasons led Lufthansa CEO to declare the craft “permanently decommissioned.” Just over 250 giant A380 aircraft were built before production ended in 2021.
The airline is scheduled to receive its last A380 aircraft in 2021. Based on Emirates' original projections of a 12-year service life, the airline looks set to continue flying the A380 until 2033.
The final Airbus A380 ever to be built has been handed over to its new owners, the Dubai-based carrier Emirates. It is a landmark moment. The giant of the skies will continue to fly, but its long-term future remains uncertain.
Emirates A380.
Boeing claims that the 747-8 is more cost-effective per seat per mile than any other aircraft. However, Airbus claims that the A380 is the most efficient jet in the world. It does not make much sense to compare the two jets in fuel burn and seat-mile cost. The planes are considerably different in size.
That old friend, a Singapore Airlines A380, has not been seen at Melbourne Airport (MEL) since January 2020 but will now be a familiar sight on the apron as it returns every day until October 28th, 2023.
The Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8 are therefore in direct competition on long-haul routes.
Many current A380s are likely to be phased out over the next decade, if not sooner. As such, it seems very unlikely that we will see another aircraft of its size any time soon.
Singapore Airlines has held the record for world's longest flight since 2016. Their trip from Singapore to New York is more than 9,500 miles.
On the whole, therefore, flying an A380 with the power of just one engine seems a precarious prospect. Indeed, even flying the A380 under the power of two engines is something that Federal Aviation Regulations state should only be done in extreme cases.
In terms of commercial success, it can be said that the A350 is a more successful aircraft than the A380 with almost four times as many A350 orders as A380 orders. Given the popularity of the A350 to date, there are likely to be many more orders to come for this aircraft.
Both the A380 and the 777 widebodies tend to serve long-haul markets. Not surprisingly, the double-deck A380 is, in most respects, larger than the single-deck 777. And, of course, with two decks, the A380 carries more passengers, typically 500 to 600. However, some 777s can accommodate more than 400 passengers.