Why is the A380 Superjumbo coming back?

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(CNN) – Post-epidemic commercial aviation recovery may have an early, unlikely character: A380 Superjumbo.

It seems that only two years have passed since the world’s largest passenger plane was battling the spread of cholera. All ships have crashed, most aircraft have been in long-term storage, and some airlines have taken the opportunity to completely eliminate the A380s, with France suspending the ship in May 2020.

But now that the number of passengers is increasing and air traffic is returning to pre-epidemic levels, the plane is enjoying a new look. According to Fluladar24, more than half of the world’s ships have returned to service.

The Emirate has the largest A380 fleet in the world.

Pascal Pavani / AFP by Getty Images

Lufthansa was the latest service provider to announce the return of the aircraft – although not before 2023 – and there are reasons to believe that more A380s will gradually return to the skies.

“He is definitely back,” said Jeff Van Claveren, IBA aviation analyst and managing director. “Operators were very reluctant to return it because it was a very expensive aircraft, but I think we saw it recover faster than people expected.”

More will come back

Airbus produced 251 A380s, 238 of which are ready for service today, and the rest have been retired or canceled. The now-defunct aircraft is popular with passengers and aircraft but not airlines – only 14 have been used so far.

Nine of these are currently flying British Airways, All Nippon Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Kantas, Qatar, Asia, Korea Airlines and China South Airlines. Some of them plan to return the extra A380 to service.

For example, Singapore Airlines is flying 10 A380 aircraft out of 12 ships, but the remaining two are being refurbished and will soon be on board, he told CNN Travel. Korean Airlines says it will return the A380 out of 10 ships in service.

Qantas, which operates three of the 12 A380s on the Sydney-Singapore-London route, has confirmed to CNN Travel that it intends to return to service before the end of the year. A.D. By 2024 (the other two must be removed).

The Emirates, the largest A380 operator with 123 aircraft, is also expanding. “We are working today. […] “By the end of the year, we are planning to work on the 90 A380s across our network,” said Richard Jussbury, vice president of the UK Division of the Emirates. This means that more than a dozen more A380s will join the current fleet.

The last A380, built in late 2021, has flown to the Emirates. It is one of the Emirates A380s to include the premium economy segment – the middle ground between the basic economy and the business class.

The airline will launch 67 additional A380s in 18 months and by the end of this year. Within that configuration, the four-compartment aircraft, including First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy, can carry 484 passengers. With a dense, two-tier structure with business and economy, the Emirates A380s can carry 615 passengers.

Heavy sales

Lufthansa has announced that it will bring the A380s by 2023.

Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images

There are several reasons why airlines are turning to Superjumbo. “Some operators, such as British Airways, have retired older aircraft such as the Boeing 747. There is also a lack of capacity in the new A350 and so on. Claveren

Not only that. For some airlines, the return of the plane is significant because the price of the aircraft is so low that it cannot be sold.

“Some operators have realized that it is a very difficult aircraft to sell for many different reasons. If you do not have an A380, you will definitely not bring it to your ship, because this is very dangerous and expensive,” says Van. Claveren

“The price of the 10-year-old A380 has dropped by 60% compared to the pre-epidemic, to $ 30 million compared to $ 76 million, which is very unusual. So it’s a lot.” [airlines] They think they can do it because they are spending money on air.

Two airlines, Thai and Malaysia, have sold all their A380 aircraft, but have yet to find a buyer. The only other holdout so far is Etihad; The Abu Dhabi-based airline has 10 ships, but nothing is working and there are no strong plans at the moment.

Short life

The Emirates has recently launched a new A380 cabinet, including the premium economy unit.

Emirati team

Compared to the tragic predictions of two years ago, now is the time to predict the future of Superjumbo.

“I think most airlines will continue to operate the aircraft for the rest of their lives,” said Van Claver. “The question mark is whether that life is more than 25 years old, which is the lifespan of most aircraft.

The Emirates has many A380s, so the fate of the plane is largely in its hands. “I think it will make them all fly again, because they are very important to their business model,” said Van Claver.

Dubai-based airline continues to support the aircraft.

Emirati President Tim Clark told Airline Rating: “Once the A380 goes, it will leave a gap that cannot be filled by other aircraft currently under production.”

At the moment, the A3800 continues to be well-received by customers around the world and will remain the main aircraft of the airline for many years, according to Richard Richard Juzberi of the Emirates.

“It reaffirms the familiar two-story travel experience for us and will continue to be an important pillar of our network plans.”

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