British Airways: A380 given clearance to serve again
By Tom Box, journalist | Airbus | British Airways | COVID-19 Pandemic
After the airline began phasing out its fleet of 747-400s last July, but decided to keep the 12 remaining A380s, after facing grounding due to the pandemic and six undergoing maintenance in Madrid, the base of also IAG owned Iberia.
This will make the carrier only one of six airlines that still flies the long range jets, as the industry favours planes like the platform-sharing Airbus A330neo and A350, as well as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the 777X, which is due to enter service in late 2023.
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British airways A380
G-XLEJ banking .
PICTURE: Bestlaasham
On 19th April, the last of the ‘Madrid six’ returned to Heathrow, meaning that they are ready to serve when needed. Some routes the superjumbo served pre-COVID were Johannesburg, Miami, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Los Angeles.
Speaking in a webinar recently, the CEO of Britain’s flag carrier said
“[The A380] works very well for British Airways. We do have a base for the A380, it’s in our plans… Even on the East Coast of the US, even into Miami we found the A380 worked very well”
- Sean Doyle, British Airways CEO
What’s more, this isn’t the first time the Irish businessman has talked about the company’s commitment to the jet, but has littered clues of keeping it in service while most of the other major European A380 operators have sought to retire it as more economic and environmentally friendly planes are in the process of serving the long range routes.
With no more information, it is clear to say that in the current situation, the airline are withholding plans and details, there is still lots of uncertainty regarding the A380.
Sources used in this article:
Simple Flying
CNBC
