After returning the Airbus A380 to service and planning on adding cities in the coming months, such as Los Angeles and Bangkok, Lufthansa has revealed plans to return more Airbus A380s to active service.
Per Cirium, Lufthansa has informed the reputable and reliable aviation data source that D-AIMH and D-AIMC will return to the fleet in 2024. Meanwhile if customer demand levels remain incredibly strong the plan will also be to reintergrate D-AIMA and D-AIMB to operations between 2024 and 2025.
D-AIMH was delivered to Lufthansa in June of 2011 and has been stored in Teruel since September 2021, after a year-long stay in Frankfurt during the height of the pandemic and when the airline was sure the series would never return.
D-AIMC was stored in Frankfurt until January 2021, when it moved to Tarbes in France for long-term storage.
However, like many other carriers globally, demand has returned quicker than expected. As a result, the A380 becomes a desirable option for airlines such as Lufthansa, who have not necessarily fuel-efficient but high-capacity aircraft available to meet the soaring demand levels, even if it’s a plane that has been in storage.
Additionally, Lufthansa has long battled with delays in deliveries for their upcoming widebody aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. Therefore the ageing A340s, A380s and 747s, all with high capacity, are a short-term fix while they await deliveries for new aircraft types such as the A350, 787 and soon the 777X.
Excellent news but just a pity that it will inevitably lead to to withdrawal of the A340s