Australian flag carrier Qantas will start phasing out its Airbus A380s four years earlier than originally planned, officials announced Thursday.
In comments released alongside the airline’s fiscal year 2026 earnings report, Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the current delivery pace for new A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners means the superjumbo can be retired starting in 2028, instead of 2032. The A350 and 787 can fly all of Qantas’ current A380 routes, Hudson said, and through their range and fuel efficiency will open up additional long-haul international connections.
While beloved by aviation enthusiasts and many passengers, the A380 is expensive to fuel, operate, and maintain compared to newer and more efficient aircraft. Airbus ended production of the type in 2021, creating additional barriers to repairs and overhaul work.
Qantas first announced in 2023 that it would retire the A380 from 2032. At the time, the airline said it would use the A350-1000 as a replacement.
Since then, Qantas and Airbus have also made significant progress in developing the A350-1000ULR, an ultra-long-range variant that will connect cities on the east coast of Australia with far-flung destinations such as New York and London. Deliveries of the -1000ULR are expected to begin in 2027.
Qantas currently operates 10 A380s. It did not say how long it will take to retire all of them.
Fewer than a dozen large airlines currently fly the A380. Emirates is by far the largest operator of the type, followed by Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, and Qatar Airways.
Several former operators, including Air France and China Southern Airlines, ditched the A380 over high fuel costs.
