China Southern says goodbye to A380: last flight took off from Los Angeles on Nov. 6
For those who love the Airbus A380 and those who regret the companies' decision to retire the largest aircraft [...]
China Southern Airlines
For those who love the Airbus A380 and for those who regret the companies' decision to retire the largest passenger aircraft ever built, today is a sad day. China Southern has permanently grounded its fleet of giants of the skies.
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At the height of the pandemic, when even Emirates (the flagship company of the A380) had grounded them, only the Guangzhou-based Chinese carrier had continued to fly its double-decker planes. The airplane has always been a permanent presence at Amsterdam Airport these past 30 months.
Chinese pilots literally immolated themselves to the cause, one of them making headlines for having spent 189 days in quarantine during 2021 just For his work as an A380 pilot.
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The Chinese company is reported to have 5 A380s in its fleet, all relatively young since they have been in service for 10 to 11 years maximum. In fact, if you consider that 2 of them have been idle for almost 3 years, they are even younger. However, this is not enough for the company to keep them active, and decommissioning will begin shortly. We shall see If they end up at the wrecker's or whether one or more will be saved by being converted back to something else.
In recent months we have seen many companies make similar decisions, but just as many have backed down. Not China Southern, which instead has said no more.
If Lufthansa has decided to reignite the engines of its A380 fleet, as we can see there are those who think otherwise. Fortunately, Emirates has no plans to part with its fleet anytime soon and rather will spend a few billion dollars to renovate its interior.
