Qantas wants to reactivate the entire Airbus A380 fleet

Qantas boss Alan Joyce encourages all A380 enthusiasts to return. At an online conference, Joyce announced a return of the entire A380 fleet – but not before 2024.

Opinions continue to differ on the Airbus A380 – current developments clearly show that. While a number of airlines have given up the double-decker altogether, other airlines have a bit of residual hope in the A380. Airlines such as Emirates and British Airways are currently clearly positioning themselves for the A380. The Australian airline Qantas Airways is stepping up – the entire fleet could even return here.

Return of the entire A380 fleet planned

At Air France it is completely retired and at Lufthansa it faces a similar fate – we’re talking about the Airbus A380. While Emirates and China Southern Airlines are continuously using the double-decker and even adding individual routes to the route network, the A380 remains on the ground with most airlines. At least this year, the A380 could be used by British Airways on selected routes. The situation is different at the moment with the Australian airline Qantas Airways. The airline owns a total of twelve Airbus A380s, all of which are on the ground, not in Sydney, for example, but in Los Angeles, over 12,000 kilometers away. In the California desert, the entire A380 fleet is stored at Victorville Airport, a small suburb of Los Angeles. After the airline had the inside cabins of six double-deckers at Elbe Flugzeugwerke near Dresden refurbished, it even relocated an aircraft directly to California.

After the outbreak of the pandemic, the A380 at Qantas seemed to be doing similarly to the Boeing 747 – no return. But slowly the tide is turning. Alan Joyce, acting airline chief, gives confidence with his recent remarks at a CAPA online conference – a return of the A380 is becoming more and more likely. If demand allows, Qantas can reactivate the A380 within three to six months. However, this will not happen until 2024. Airline boss Alan Joyce wants to reactivate all twelve A380s in the medium term.

We think we will reactivate all of the A380s. Now if demand comes back earlier, we can reactivate the A380s within three to six months.

australianaviation.com.au

Focus on airports with expensive slots

In addition, Joyce clearly formulates the future area of ​​application for the A380. On the one hand, the focus will be on airports that have slot restrictions, such as London Heathrow. In particular, aircraft that have been completely written off could be used here.

An A380, that’s fully or nearly fully written down, if it generates cash, will absolutely work. Airports that have slot restrictions, like Heathrow, where a slot is extremely expensive, then the aircraft works for that. And the similar scheduling windows that worked for Australia are unique.

australianaviaton.com.au

But the A380 is also more than just an alternative for flights to the United States of America. Here the airline could use an A380 instead of several aircraft.

We do have scheduling windows, because if you if you’ve ever been in LA, at between 10 o’clock and midnight, you see six or seven Qantas aircraft departing to Australia, because it’s the only time that works with curfews, so instead of flying multiple frequencies right on top of each other. So we do believe there’s a need for that fleet. And we do believe that it will generate cash. And it’s all going to be about cash when we start up international.

australianaviation.com.au

Finally, Joyce mentions the economic benefits of the A380. He also believes that one day there will be demand for the A380 fleet again. At the same time, he believes that the A380 will make money again – and that is exactly what matters when it comes to international flights again.

Conclusion on the A380 plans at Qantas Airways

Qantas Airways is slowly becoming one of my favorite airlines when it comes to flights to Australia. If the A380 really does return to London Heathrow one day, I’ll be flying from London. It is nice to see that some airlines want to rely on the A380 again, at least in the medium term, and not write it off entirely. Do you believe the words of the airline boss? Is the A380 really coming back at Qantas?

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