THE A380 SUPERJUMBO UPDATE

As demand for flights soars post-pandemic, the giant bird is back. In this round-up, Business Traveller has the latest on A380 fleets across all 14 operators

- FELICITY COUSINS

The A380 was initially conceived back in the 90s, when hub-to-hub travel looked to be gaining prominence. Able to carry up to 853 passengers if configured in all-economy, the plane offered attractive economics to airlines looking to maximise limited slots at busy airports. Roomy interiors and a novelty of engineering also made it particularly popular with passengers.

The first A380 aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines in 2007, and there have been 14 customers for the double decker superjumbo. Emirates is the biggest operator, having taken delivery of just under half (123) of the 251 superjumbos built.

However, as the aircraft came to market, an industry shift towards lower-capacity, direct routes, coupled with the aircraft’s expensive running costs, meant it quickly fell out of favour. In February 2019, Airbus began to wind down production of the aircraft, and Emirates took delivery of the final A380 in December 2021.

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent global travel slowdown led many A380 operators to either place their superjumbos in storage or retire them completely. It looked like that was it for the giant aircraft.

However, as demand for flight rebounds after the pandemic at the same time as delivery delays of new aircraft, airlines are starting to take another look at the A380, and existing fleets are gradually coming back into service.

Here we round-up the latest situation regarding the A380 fleets across all 14 operators.

Air France