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
Recommended by TFC
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.
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.
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.
- 6,000 Mile Registration Bonus
- Collect miles WITH EACH PURCHASE
- Your miles with no expiration*
- No fees for ATM withdrawals and foreign purchases
- Without having to change banks
- Autonomous card activation
- Multi-function mobile application
- Free travel insurance
- Free credit for up to 7 weeks
- Contactless Payment
- Mastercard® SecureCode
- 20€ discount directly in your statement by spending €60 in one or more transactions with Carta on Italotreno.it
- Free fee the 1st year. From the 2nd €5.50 per month
- You can choose to pay in full or in installments
- Premium level of the Italo Più program
- 4 Vouchers per year for access to Italo Club Lounges
- Preferential Access to Italo's Fast Track at the station
- For every 5 purchases of Italo ticketing and/or onboard services made with Italo American Express Credit Card you will receive 1 voucher for room upgrade
- Welcome bonus of 100,000 Volare points upon reaching 6 thousand in spending in the first 3 months after card issuance
- Accumulate 1.5 qualifying Volare points for every euro spent, accumulate an additional 3 non-qualifying Volare points ( for a total of 4.5 Volare points) for every euro spent on ticketing purchases and other services offered by ITA Airways
- Access to the Premium Club of ITA Airways' Volare program.
- ITA Airways Lounge Access
- Free excess baggage
- Points Back