09:56 12/07/2022
The largest plane in the world, the Airbus A380, announced as "dead", since the first moments of the presentation, is flying again with the increase of trips. Lufthansa is among those bringing back their giant A380s.
"Never say never" would be an apt way to describe such an incredible comeback.
The Airbus A380, the world's largest aircraft with over 600 seats on board (in a specific Emirates airline configuration) was dismissed by many observers and withdrawn by many airlines at the height of the pandemic. But now, as airlines look for ways to cope with the sudden massive surge in demand and delivery delays weighing on Boeing, the superplane is back, and in far greater numbers than expected.
In the last week of June, a total of 129 A380s took to the skies again globally, operated by seven airlines, according to tracking portal Flightradar24. That's more than half of the 251 long-haul aircraft ever delivered, with many more returning to service every week.
The unexpected return
In a spectacular twist last week, German airline Lufthansa confirmed that it is also bringing in some A380s for the summer 2023 season, a sign that an A380 comeback, unthinkable just a few months ago, is starting to look more concrete.
Passengers love the A380. But almost all of its operators have struggled to fly the giant jet economically, largely because of its four engines, which consume astronomical levels of fuel, as well as the many seats that need to be filled. The plane, of which Airbus had hoped to build at least a thousand, was a commercial failure.
Dubai's Emirates airline remains the A380's strongest supporter and largest customer by far. Emirates has 123 A380s, almost half of the total ever produced.
Production of the A380 ended last year, with Emirates taking delivery of the last A380 built at Airbus' Hamburg factory in December 2021. The era of the four-engine wide-body jet appeared to be over after US rival Boeing indicated that would end production of the legendary Boeing 747 in 2022 after more than 50 years.
Air France phased out 10 of its Airbus A380s permanently even before the pandemic hit, some already being dismantled. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought aviation to a near standstill in the spring of 2020, the end of most of the remaining A380s seemed imminent, with the exception of Emirates' fleet, as the airline had already announced it would fly with double-deckers, complete with showers and a lounge on board, by the mid-2030s.
Lufthansa brings back the A380
Lufthansa, which had a total of 14 A380s in its fleet, was among the airlines that retired the A380. She sent her entire fleet into "retirement". As Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr pointed out in August 2021, "The A380 is definitely not coming back."
In April 2022, he repeated this to the German magazine "Der Spiegel": "This is over, once and for all. The A380 is very uneconomical compared to newer twin-engine long-haul aircraft. Will not return to Lufthansa.”
Lufthansa's A380s are currently parked in Spain and France. Six of these aircraft have already been sold, eight A380s remain part of Lufthansa's fleet for now.
Anyone who wants to see the Lufthansa superplanes today has to go to Lourdes, a major Catholic pilgrimage site. At Tarbes-Lourdes airport, there are several dozen aircraft, all in long-term storage, sitting against the picturesque backdrop of the snow-capped Pyrenees. Many of them arrived here brand new from the Airbus factory in nearby Toulouse, never carrying a passenger.
From behind the thin wire fence, it is possible to observe these sleeping giants. The windows and engines are covered with silver foil, the landing gear carefully wrapped and all openings in the body sealed. This is called "deep storage" in aviation parlance.
"It would take nine months to put our A380s into operation," Lufthansa's Spohr told DW. However, four to five of Lufthansa's eight remaining A380s will become airworthy again and will operate scheduled flights. "I had to soften my view a little bit on the eventual end of the A380," Spohr admitted in late June.
Boeing's problems fueled the comeback
Rising passenger demand, already above pre-pandemic levels in some areas, is a big reason behind the return of the A380. But it is also related to the problems of the American manufacturer Boeing. Lufthansa was among the first customers of the largest long-haul jet currently in production, the Boeing 777-9, which the German airline wants to operate with 400 seats. However, the delivery of the aircraft has been delayed by about five years, until 2025.
"The delivery delays for the Boeing 777-9 are a huge burden on our flight operations," Spohr said. So, as a stopgap measure, Lufthansa has decided to reintroduce the A380. Lufthansa will begin operating its A380s from Munich in the spring of 2023, Spohr said, adding that the number could increase if demand remains strong.
There are not enough A380 pilots
The main reason for basing the superplanes in Bavaria and not at Lufthansa's Frankfurt hub is the lack of pilots. “We only have 14 A380 pilots ready to fly who can be deployed immediately. So if we bring the A380 back into service, we will need to qualify some more A350 pilots,” explained Spohr. Lufthansa's A350 fleet is also based in Munich, where some of its cabin crew will complete the six-week course that also enables them to fly the A380./DW
