Question marks surrounding the future of Airbus A380s at airlines have long existed. However, following the pandemic, this discussion only increased.
Despite facing record low demand levels during the height of the pandemic and Australia’s delayed recovery, Qantas continued to highlight the importance of the Airbus A380 and its intention to keep it in the fleet.
The Australian flag carrier has returned multiple A380s to active service and continues to see them return to help with international operations.
Per FlightGlobal, the airline will keep the world’s largest passenger plane as part of their company for at least the next decade. The news of such a commitment to the series is another vote of confidence in its capabilities at some companies.
Before the pandemic, Qantas began reconfiguring the type and ensuring its upgraded nature could put the company ahead of the competition and create a memorable travel experience for passengers.
Qantas will eventually fly 10 Airbus A380s, this two down from pre-pandemic figures following a decision to keep these grounded.
For the airline overall, there’s a big focus being put on ensuring they can reduce pressure on existing planes struggling to meet demand and open desired routes the company has, such as Paris, Seattle and Chicago.
The Airbus A350-1000 arrival slated for 2025 and to begin Project Sunrise will ease pressure on the 787, paired with the A380’s continued return and more 787s arriving. For Qantas, it’s mainly about how they’ll reach a point where they feel comfortable with their network and the amount of aircraft available.
