Etihad is bringing back the A380 superjumbo

Etihad Airways will bring back the Airbus A380 superjumbo, joining a small group of airlines choosing to revive the mammoth jet after it had appeared doomed at the height of the Covid crisis. 

Etihad plans to return four of the double-deckers from mid-2023 on flights to London Heathrow, in turn freeing up capacity to bring back more destinations and add frequencies elsewhere, it said Friday.

“The move follows a surge in demand for air travel across the airline’s network and customer feedback for the return of one of the most remarkable commercial flying experiences in the sky,” the carrier said.

It’s long been rumoured Etihad would reactivate at least three of its superlative A380 superjumbos, although Paris and Sydney were often cited as joining London as rebooted A380 destinations.

“The A380 is an incredible product and something that all of us would love to return from a travelling perspective, but the economics need to make sense.”

Etihad is reactivating the A380 under newly minted CEO Antonoaldo Neves, the former head of Portuguese flag carrier TAP, who joined a few weeks ago to replace outgoing chief Tony Douglas.

In other A380 news

On the 1st of December Emirates reintroduced the Airbus A380 on the Dubai - Auckland run.
This marked the first time that the airline’s A380 aircraft had touched down in Auckland since February 2020. The non-stop daily service from Dubai was greeted at Auckland Airport ahead of the country’s first fully open summer since the pandemic. The service was previously serviced by a Boeing 777 and went via Kuala Lumpur.

Asiana appears to have three of their Supers in active service, operating between Bangkok, Seoul and Los Angeles. One aircraft has been in long term storage since March 2020, while two others were stored in August and September 2022.

British Airways moved full steam ahead, reintroducing its entire fleet of 12 A380s citing increasing travel demand. BA brought five back into service in early 2022, initially on shorter haul routes to re-acclimatize the crew. The remaining seven came online in June 2022 to pick up the slack between UK and US destinations.

Emirates plans to maximize its A380 usage until the mid-2030s, and so far, have retired just five aircraft, bringing its total down to 118. The airline is working towards bringing back its entire A380 fleet into service by spring 2023. At the time of posting this, just under 100 were already in active duty.

Korean Air plans to retire its fleet of A380s within the next four to five years. The airline is slowly moving away from quad jets. Of the 10 delivered five have been parked since early 2020, while the remaining five operate flights between Bangkok, Seoul and New York.

Lufthansa’s fleet of A380's has dropped to eight as the remaining six were sold back to Airbus. After being initially carded for retirement in April 2022, the airline rescinded its decision two months after as they saw significant improvement in travel numbers, and due to the significant delivery delay of the Boeing 777-9. 

Malaysia Airlines took delivery of six A380s just 10 years ago, Malaysia parked its A380's at the start of 2020 and will return them to Airbus as part of a deal to purchase 20 Airbus A330neos

Qantas will bring back its sixth Airbus A380 later this month. After almost three years in storage, the aircraft will offer vital operational resilience over the busy Christmas holiday period.

Qatar has eight A380's in service as a result of the recent drama involving their Airbus A350s paint dispute. The significant delays affecting the next-gen Boeing 777-9 also means they need to keep the A380s flying just a bit longer to meet capacity needs.

Singapore airlines took delivery of up to 24 A380's between 2007 and 2018. Singapore was also the launch customer of the new super jumbo product. Looking at today’s numbers, it appears that seven of those heavies have been retired (one went to HiFly Malta). Of the remaining 17, Singapore has 12 in service, operating them across various European, Pacific and Asian routes.

Thai Airways International is considering the future of its Airbus A380 aircraft, “studying closely” the option to bring back the double-decker. Thai Airways has six A380s, all of which were moved to storage in Thailand. While four are sitting on the tarmac at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, two are stored at Rayong Pattaya U-Tapao International Airport.