The Airbus A380 has departed Toulouse, France, for the final time, 15 years after being unveiled to the world as Airbus' challenge to the Boeing 747. The aircraft, carrying MSN (Manufacturers Serial Number) 272, will eventually be delivered to Emirates. The airframe itself was first spotted back in September 2020 outside the hangers in southern France after several months of being pieced together from components made across Europe. Today saw the double-decker take off from Toulouse-Blanc Airport to conduct its…
Qatar Airways announced that it is likely to only bring back half of the A380s it has on its fleet once demand levels recover. This is five out of the 10 aircraft possessed by the Doha-based carrier At a CAPA live event held on Wednesday, January 13; Qatar Airways CEO…
To not mince words about the commercial aviation industry when talking about the last year, but 2020 sucked. The global force for moving passengers was grounded with the rapid spread of COVID-19 as borders closed, demand fell and airlines looked to make the most of the disaster at hand. Months…
Emirates Airline has announced it has taken delivery of its latest super jumbo, which joins the airline's fleet marking its 117th Airbus A380. The next A380 the airline takes will include Emirates' long-awaited Premium Economy product. The A380 MSN264 with registration A6-EVM left Hamburg Finkenweder on Dec. 11 and arrived…
The President of Emirates has said that Emirates will continue with oncoming Airbus A380 orders despite the coronavirus pandemic's impact on travel demand. Tim Clark, who has presided over the airline since 2008, said in an interview with Aviation Business that the aircraft "remain hugely popular with the traveling public,"…
Earlier this week, Emirates SkyCargo announced that it has started utilizing the Airbus A380 for select cargo charter operations. According to the carrier, the dedicated cargo operations using the A380 comes in response to increased demand for air cargo capacity to transport critical goods, such as medical supplies needed as…
On Tuesday, Emirates officially retired its first A380 jumbo jet. The aircraft, registered as A6-EDB, has been in Emirates’ fleet for 12 years and completed its final flight on Oct. 27. While this retirement is not a direct causality of the COVID-19 pandemic, the once-reverenced "Eighth Wonder" is slowly withdrawing…
Five months after Airbus inaugurated its newly completed, comprehensive hangar – designed to handle the final assembly line for the A220 commercial aircraft – in Mobile, Ala., the major aircraft manufacturer officially delivered its first-ever U.S. built A220 to Delta. potentially paving the pathway for evolving its production capabilities and…
The summer has passed and the prospects for the aviation industry's recovery are once again exhausted. The high season ends and, except for some signs of recovery in demand that was seen in July and August, the market again shows the impact of COVID-19 on European aviation. For that reason,…
Qatar Airways has decided to keep its fleet of 10 Airbus A380s grounded, citing the aircraft's vast commercial and environmental footprint. “Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the airline has taken the decision to ground its fleet of Airbus A380s as it is not commercially or environmentally justifiable to…
