The Airbus A380, once considered to be an endangered aircraft due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is making a comeback as travel demand increases. At least ten airlines plan to use the superjumbo early next year, to nearly 50 destinations worldwide. Air France and China Southern Airlines are the only operators who have definitively given up on the A380.
Thai Airways in Bangkok and Malaysia Airlines in Kuala Lumpur have also expressed interest in parting with their A380s, but the fate of these aircraft remains uncertain. The GDS consulted by Aero routes has reported a flight schedule between January 1st and March 25th, 2028 which is beginning to resemble that of 2019, before the sanitary crisis. This schedule includes the following airlines and their planned routes:
Airlines that will Operate A380
All Nippon Airways will operate flights from Tokyo-Narita to Honolulu five times a week.
Asiana Airlines will operate flights from Seoul-Incheon daily to Bangkok and Los Angeles, 3 to 7 times a week by the end of March, and 3 times a week to Sydney until the end of February.
British Airways will operate flights from London-Heathrow to Chicago (daily), Dallas-Fort Worth (daily), Doha (daily until January 9th), Johannesburg (2 daily from January 9th) with daily departures to Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington DC (from January 9th).
Emirates Airlines will operate flights from Dubai to 41 destinations, including Amman, Amsterdam, Auckland, Bangalore, Bangkok, Brisbane, Jeddah, Düsseldorf, Frankfort, Guangzhou, Houston, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Mauritius, Melbourne, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich, New York J F K , Paris-Charles de gale , Perth, Roma, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto, Washington DC , and Zürich.
Korean Air will operate flights from Seoul-Incheon daily to Bangkok and Los Angeles (replacing JFK in early February).
Qantas will operate flights between Sydney-Kingsfort Smith and Los Angeles (5 or 6 times a week, then 7 from March 1), and daily to Singapore then London-Heathrow.
Qatar Airways will operate flights from Doha-Hamad International to Bangkok (14 then 10 times a week from mid-February), London-Heathrow (twice a day), Perth and Sydney (1 daily flight each).
Singapore Airlines will operate daily flights between Singapore-Changi and Frankfurt with an extension to New York-JFK, and to Hong Kong, London-Heathrow, Mumbai, Shanghai and Sydney.
Etihad Airways and Lufthansa, plan to use their A380s next year, but not in the first quarter. Etihad Airways will put four back in service in London next summer and Lufthansa will put “four or five” in service in Munich.
It is important to note that frequencies and destinations may change depending on the evolution of traffic in the coming months. For example, Emirates may send back a superjumbo to Birmingham next summer. However, for the moment, nothing indicates a slowdown in recovery in the long-haul market.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Airbus A380 is making a comeback in the aviation industry as travel demand increases. At least ten airlines plan to use the superjumbo early next year, to nearly 50 destinations worldwide. The flight schedule for the first quarter of 2023 resembles that of 2019 before the pandemic.
Leave a Reply