Coronavirus could be the end of the A380 super jumbo planes

The mightiest passenger plane may not have much of a future in the sky after COVID-19, with Qatar the latest airline to signal its retirement.

The coronavirus pandemic may have accelerated the death of one of the world’s most iconic passenger planes.

The A380 superjumbo, which is the world’s largest passenger plane, faces an uncertain future as the airline industry reels from a dramatic and unprecedented drop in passenger traffic due to the virus.

As the downturn in demand forced the world’s airlines to ground entire fleets of planes, many also put their wider body planes into early retirement.

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Qantas and Dutch airline KLM retired their entire fleets of Boeing 747s – the jumbo jet known as the Queen of the Skies – while Virgin Atlantic brought forward the retirement of its A340-600 planes.

Decommissioned Lufthansa Boeing 747 passenger aircraft parked at Frankfurt Airport on May 6. Picture: Boris Roessler/dpa via AP

Larger-bodied models were already on their way out as they began to be replaced by more large but more efficient twin jet aircraft like the Boeing 777 and Airbus A350. But the disruption of the pandemic appears to have sounded the death knell early.

Now it appears the double-decker, four-engine A380 – which turned 15 at the end of April – is joining the list of jumbo aircraft that might not return to the skies.

“Even larger than the 747, the A380 is way, way too big for the new world of reduced demand for air travel we are seeing now,” Alberto Rivo from the Points Guy wrote in March.

“While many A380s are grounded, some of them are likely to return to service once demand comes back, but the writing is on the wall: The future belongs to twin jets.”

A Qantas Airbus A380 prepares to land in Melbourne from Los Angeles. File image.

CNN reported at a time when demand has dropped, the double-decker A380, which has a capacity for 853 passengers, is begin shunned in favour of fuel-efficient smaller planes such as the best-selling A320, which has a capacity of 140 to 170.

“Simple answer is that they are too big for current needs,” aircraft expert John Grant from AG Aviation Consultants told CNN.

“If airlines are going to maintain any schedules they need to match capacity to demand; that means in many cases smaller aircraft types and – as we are seeing – large frequency reductions.

First class cabin on Qatar Airways’ A380s. Picture: Supplied

“The A380 doesn’t fit that bill, especially when many airline operators require large proportions of transfer traffic from other countries. With countries being locked down it just does not make commercial sense, despite the cost of fuel currently being so low.”

Qantas has announced it was grounding eight of its 12 A380s until September, and with two in maintenance, only two of the aircraft have been flying.

Now, Qatar Airways’ chief executive officer has suggested its flagship A380s may never return.

Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker unveiled the airline’s plans for its aircraft and post-COVID recovery.

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Qatar Airways' A380 were dubbed a ‘sanctuary in the sky’. Picture: Supplied

“Qatar Airways is parking its 10 A380s and they will not return for at least a year, and maybe never,” he said, according to the West Australian.

Qatar Airways’ A380s were famous for the lavish Sanctuary business class lounge on the upper deck, and for their luxurious first class suites.

Mr Al Baker said the Doha-based airline would downsize its fleet of about 200 aircraft by 25 per cent and expected the global travel industry to take “around two to three years to get back to 2019 levels”.

“I think I would be very surprised if things will happen before 2023/2024,” he said.

He also said he expected many airlines would not survive the downturn caused by the pandemic.

“There will be consolidation and bankruptcies and a huge reduction in capacity,” he said.

Qatar Airways would likely approach its government owners for financial aid, Mr Al Baker said. In the meantime, the airline would continue to maintain social distancing on its aircraft.