The largest plane in the world confirms a little more its return to the air. Three years after the cessation of its production due to its high fuel consumption, its maintenance cost and, above all, the drop in air traffic due to the pandemic, the Airbus A380 is gradually regaining popularity among airlines. The latest, Qatar Airways, which little by little puts its seven copies of the model back into service.
But the Gulf airline is not the only one to reinstate the A380 to its fleet of planes. Its neighbor Emirates flies 74 of the 119 aircraft it currently owns and in which it has invested heavily in recent years. “Flying on an Emirates A380 is not just flying on an A380,” Cédric Renard, Emirates General Manager France, commented on the BFM Business antenna a year ago.
European companies are also reintroducing it
And no less important since they are two historical and predominant European companies in their respective countries: British Airways and Lufthansa. The former makes one or two rotations per day with the Airbus A380 on long-haul flights to Los Angeles, Miami, Washington, Johannesburg, Dubai and even Chicago.
The second is more projected and wants to put its fleet of eight Airbus A380 back into service next summer, almost three years after putting them on hold. The German company actually has 14 today, but six of them have been sold. This delay of several months corresponds to the perspectives of Lufthansa, which foresees a return to normal air traffic by the summer of 2023.
Proof of this appreciation that airlines continue to have for the device, Emirates dreams of a “new generation, lighter and with new engines.” The manufacturer doesn’t appear to have any short-term plans, but is in fact working on a prototype for a hydrogen-powered A380 by 2025.
Source: BFM TV
