Gradually put in the scrap before the pandemic, the super-jumbo, whose production has been stopped, finds the favors of airlines at the time of the massive return of customers.
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This is news that should delight passengers. The A380, their favorite plane, according to the polls carried out by the airlines, makes a strong return in the air. He finds the favors of airlines again. Especially those who kept it in their fleet. This is the case of Emirates, the Dubai company, and the largest client of the A380 with its 120 copies, which relaunched the plane. “We have already put 70 in service. The other 50 are still in the desert,” says Thierry Aucoc, Director General Europe and Russia of Emirates. The latter should soon resume the air, because “the planes are full,” adds the manager.
After a violent stroke of air transport in 2020 due to the COVVI-19 pandemic, the A380 has made it possible to respond to the resumption that the sector has experienced since the end of 2021. Like Emirates, Singapore Airlines N ‘ did not hesitate to relaunch its A380. Nine are already in service, while the last three are completing their major maintenance visit and the refurbishment of their cabin. This return to grace of the A380 also wins Europe. British Airways, however very tested during the health crisis, redesigned its very large-haul grosters to respond to the influx of passengers.
is that, for some, this plane, full, is very profitable. It generates “60 % to 70 % of the results of Emirates”, assures Cédric Renard, its director general France. Better still, the plane “would be the most profitable device” of the fleet. At Singapore Airlines, this Airbus is the flagship of the fleet. The only one to offer the famous “suites”, private cabins with double bed, sliding doors, blinds and portholes for more intimacy, very popular with the Chinese newly traveling from wedding. Even further, at the antipodes, the Australian Qantas, the Japanese Ana and even China Southern also emerged from the Hangars their A380.
unloved by Air France
Other companies, however, no longer want to hear about it. Air France, Lufthansa or Thai Airways pushed their super-jumbo towards the exit. The French Company even has awarded the judgment, initially planned in 2022, of the exploitation of its A380.
The very large driver has always been the unloved of the management of Air France since the arrival of the first copy, in 2009. The plane will not have even benefited from the new cabins. Too big, too difficult to fill, too expensive to maintain and operate, too often broken down, for Air France, the A380 combined the faults. “It is difficult to exploit A380 when there are only six or ten,” analyzes Thierry Aucoc. Impossible to save scale on maintenance or training of pilots. Above all, he adds, “it is not possible to have small planes which feed a hub and A380 which then serve the long-haul destinations”. Precisely, the model chosen by Air France. “At Emirates, the A380 feeds A380,” explains the managing director.
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