Lufthansa is expected to send the last Airbus A380 left in Frankfurt to desert storage. According to multiple reports, it looks as though the airline will fly its last A380 out to join its siblings in Teruel in mid-September. While Lufthansa is widely understood not to be considering a return of the giant, it is yet to be officially removed from the fleet.
We’ve seen some good news for the giant of the skies this week. First, Etihad’s CEO, Tony Douglas, revealed that there is a slim possibility he could return the mighty A380 to service. Then rival airline Emirates announced that it would speed up the delivery of its remaining three aircraft on order.
One last goodbye?
Later this month, Lufthansa looks set to send its last Airbus A380, D-AIMH, to storage in Teruel, Spain. The news was tweeted by a former Airbus A380 pilot and shared by German aviation journalist Andreas Spaeth,
One of the last @Lufthansa #A380 so far remaining as backup in FRA will shortly be exiting again the fleet and flown to @aeropuerteruel to join its other siblings #avgeek https://t.co/afxxJLBr1f
— Andreas Spaeth (@SpaethFlies) September 1, 2021
According to @SteffenA380, it seems as though the airline is planning to send the Airbus A380 to Teruel on September 14th. However, short-notice changes to storage flights have occurred in the past due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances.
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According to ch-aviation.com, D-AIMH is a 10.74-year-old Airbus A380. It first flew on December 9th, 2010, and went on to be delivered to Lufthansa the following year on July 5th. In its time with the German flag carrier, the jet clocked 38,587 flight hours across 3,930 flight cycles. The website gives its current market value at $42.49 million. Although whether this is the true worth of an Airbus A380 in 2021 is debatable.
| Aircraft | Location | Storage Flight (DD/MM/YYYY) |
|---|---|---|
| D-AIMA | Teruel (TEV) | 07/05/2020 |
| D-AIMB | Teruel (TEV) | 13/05/2020 |
| D-AIMC | Tarbes (LDE) | 26/01/2021 |
| D-AIMD | Teruel (TEV) | 22/03/2021 |
| D-AIME | Teruel (TEV) | 16/04/2021 |
| D-AIMF | Teruel (TEV) | 29/04/2020 |
| D-AIMG | Teruel (TEV) | 28/04/2020 |
| D-AIMH | Frankfurt (FRA) | N/A |
| D-AIMI | Tarbes (LDE) | 22/02/2021 |
| D-AIMJ | Teruel (TEV) | 30/04/2020 |
| D-AIMK | Teruel (TEV) | 05/05/2020 |
| D-AIML | Teruel (TEV) | 05/05/2021 |
| D-AIMM | Teruel (TEV) | 01/06/2021 |
| D-AIMN | Teruel (TEV) | 06/05/2020 |
Lufthansa’s last ever A380 flight?
Assuming the Airbus A380 flight goes ahead as planned, it could very well be the last Airbus A380 flight ever operated by Lufthansa. Once the aircraft arrives in Teruel, the entire fleet will be in storage at a Tarmac Aerosave site. Tarmac Aerosave has the capability to scrap A380s if the decision were to be made, meaning that the aircraft wouldn’t need to make an onwards flight if Lufthansa decides to pull the plug definitively.
Sadly, it seems more and more likely that this will be the case unless there is a substantial unexpected and unprecedented surge in demand. The Lufthansa CEO, Carsten Spohr, has made it reasonably clear that he sees no future for the giant of the skies. A month ago, during the airline’s Q2 results presentation, Spohr commented,
“On the fleet, we’ll be taking away nine sub fleets over the next years. If you would rather confine that to long-range only, the [A]380 will obviously not come back.”
Will you miss the Lufthansa Airbus A380? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!
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