A380s back in favour with airline chiefs as travel demand erupts

The strength of the international travel rebound has airline chiefs racing to return mothballed A380s to service.

The strength of the international travel rebound has airline chiefs racing to return mothballed A380s to service, with a fourth Qantas superjumbo rejoining the fleet this week.

At least two more of the airline’s 10 A380s should be out of storage by the end of the year, in response to soaring demand for flights to the UK and US.

Singapore Airlines now has 10 of its 12 A380s back in the air, while Emirates has returned more than half of its 118 A380s to operation.

Five of those visit Australia each day, with double daily flights into Sydney and Melbourne and one a day to Brisbane.

Qatar Airways is also operating a 517-seat A380 into Sydney every day and China Southern flies one of its double-decker aircraft weekly into the New South Wales capital.

Other airlines flying the A380 include Korean Air and British Airways, with Lufthansa confirming it will return eight superjumbos to service from mid-2023.

For flights into slot-constrained airports like London Heathrow and Los Angeles International, the mega jets are almost a necessity, carrying the equivalent number of passengers of almost two Boeing 787-9s.

The aircraft’s other big advantage is their popularity, with travellers readily seeking out routes on which the A380s are operated.

As well as their size and smoothness, the aircraft’s appeal has been enhanced by features added by various airline operators including bars, lounges, shower suites and in Etihad’s case a three-room apartment.

“It’s a hugely popular aircraft in much the same vein as the Boeing 747,” said one airline insider.

“Even as that aircraft was getting to the end of its life, people were hugely enamoured.”

After casting serious doubt about the resurrection of the A380 at the height of the Covid pandemic, Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas was now willing to admit they could make a comeback.

Qantas A380 "Hudson Fysh" landing in Sydney in late 2021 after almost 600-days in storage overseas.

Although the soaring cost of fuel was not helping their case, growing demand for travel and delays in the delivery of new aircraft could yet see Etihad’s A380s back in the skies.

“The A380 is an incredible product and something that all of us would love to return from a travelling perspective, but the economics need to make sense,” Mr Douglas said.

Air France and Malaysia Airlines were not waiting, making the decision to retire or sell their A380s rather than go through the expense and effort of returning them to service.

With four engines and a mountain of electronic systems to check, the A380s take three to six months to bring out of deep storage.

Time will tell whether the decisions were the right ones with every indication travel demand was returning much faster than expected.

Data from travel booking site Webjet suggested the post-pandemic travel bug was catching on quickly with research finding any hesitancy to head overseas was fast evaporating.

A survey of 5000 Australians revealed 71 per cent were now comfortable with travelling internationally and almost two-thirds (64 per cent) intended to travel abroad in the next six months.

Webjet OTA chief executive David Galt said the only impediment to travel at the moment were capacity constraints which aircraft like the A380 helped to overcome.

“Webjet search data shows that travellers are already looking ahead to next year’s peak travel periods, like a European summer, to book in their long-delayed holidays,” Mr Galt said.

“That eagerness to plan trips ahead of time is a strong indication of the confidence that is returning to the market, particularly as hesitation around closed borders and testing requirements continue to decrease.”

Originally published as A380s back in favour with airline chiefs as travel demand erupts