Last Qantas A380 in storage coming home

QANTAS AIRBUS A380-842 VH-OQL (MSN 074)

Nearly six years after Qantas grounded its entire Airbus A380 fleet when the global pandemic hit in early 2020, the last of the iconic double-decker jets is set to return home next week. However, it won’t be going back into service on premium international routes right away. Instead, Qantas plans to keep one superjumbo on standby as a backup in case another becomes unserviceable by technical problems – a move to avoid leaving around 480 passengers stranded.

“It’ll be an operational spare,” Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace told the media.

“We’ll use it occasionally, but most of the time it will serve as a backup to ensure operational resilience,” Wallace said. “It’s about investing in our customers, supporting our on-time performance, and maintaining strong cancellation and completion rates.”

Considered the pride of the fleet since it first took flight in 2008, the Qantas A380s now fly on flagship routes such as Sydney-Singapore-London, and Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles, as well as to Dallas Fort Worth and Johannesburg.

Of the twelve jets, only ten are in service, as two were taken apart for spare parts after Airbus decided in 2019 to end A380 production. Qantas plans to keep flying the A380s into the early part of the next decade, before replacing them with the new Airbus A350-1000.

If my records are correct the Airbus A380 should be VH-OQC (MSN 022). It landed in Abu Dhabi Zayed International airport (AUH/OMAA) on the 21st of June 2021.

Qantas currently run the following registrations in the A380 fleet.
VH-OQA   014

VH-OQB   015

VH-OQD   026

VH-OQG   047

VH-OQH   050

VH-OQI    055

VH-OQJ   062

VH-OQK   063

VH-OQL   074

VH-OQE 027 and OQF 029 have been scraped for parts.