Following the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Air France has announced it will immediately retire its Airbus A380 fleet.
“In the context of the current COVID19 crisis and its impact on anticipated activity levels, the AirFranceKLM Group announces the definitive end of AirFrance Airbus A380 operations, initially scheduled by the end of 2022,” read the Air France-KLM Group statement.
“The phase-out of Airbus A380 fleet fits in the Air France-KLM Group fleet simplification strategy of making the fleet more competitive, by continuing its transformation with more modern, high-performance aircraft with a significantly reduced environmental footprint,” it read further.
Withdrawing the A380s immediately allows Air France to redeploy pilots and save on storage costs. It is more expensive to put an aircraft into temporary storage than long-term parking.
Air France last year decided to retire three A380s and its remaining seven by 2022. One A380 had already been withdrawn under the original plan. The other A380s are parked and now will not return to service.
Since passenger traffic will take a few years to recover, there is a small or even non-existent window for the Air France A380s to be used for a few months before their 2022 retirement.
According to Air France, five A380s are either owned or on a financial lease, while the other four are on an operating lease. The incoming A350s and Boeing 787s will take over the routes that Air France deployed the A380 on.
The airline first took delivery of the superjumbo in October 2009 making it the first airline in Europe to operate the aircraft.
Ecojet, the world's first electric, commercial airline, has signed an agreement to purchase 22 ZA2000 hydrogen-electric engines from ZeroAvia, with…
Vertical Aerospace has seen its latest VX4 prototype perform its first tethered piloted flight as it begins the “wheels up”…
As many as 260 firm commercial aircraft orders and £81.5bn worth of deals were struck on the first four days…
The first mission-ready F-16 pilots to graduate from the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania were honoured today. This…
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has awarded Airbus Helicopters a contract to lead a concept study as part…
Turkish Technic, a global maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company, has recently signed a Component Support Agreement with Citilink, a…
Following its firm order of 20 A330neo aircraft at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow, Vietjet has entered into significant agreements…
NASA Langley Research Center has awarded a contract to Terma to improve the data management and operational efficiency of its…
With the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry on the verge of take-off, there has been a concerted effort by companies…
Magellan Aerospace Corporation (Magellan) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Farnborough Airshow with the Indian firm, Aequs…
ZeroAvia and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will work towards a demonstration flight using ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 zero-emission, hydrogen-electric engines for large…
Pratt & Whitney has received more than 950 GTF engine orders and commitments since the beginning of the year. Airlines…
Triumph's Thermal Systems Division has been awarded a long-term-program contract to design, manufacture and support the precooler system for the…
Pratt & Whitney and OGMA Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal , an Embraer company, have announced the induction of the first…
Abra Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for five A350-900 aircraft, aiming to expand its international long-haul operations…
Saudi Arabia’s low-cost carrier flynas has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 75 A320neo family aircraft and…
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) has signed a six-year agreement with GE Aerospace to extend their TrueChoice Service…
AirAsia Aviation Group and AirAsia X, two of Asia’s largest low-cost carrier groups, have strengthened partnerships with SITA, adopting SITA…
AAR, a provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs, and OEMs, has entered into several long-term distribution…
J&C Aero, an EASA-certified international cabin interior hub, has successfully completed a full cabin modernisation of a Boeing 757-200, equipping…
Hours after it signed a contract with Australian company Wilbur Air, Spanish electric aircraft manufacturer Crisalion Mobility announced that it…
In a significant milestone for the D328eco programme, German OEM Deutsche Aircraft has commenced the construction of the first test…
British cargo airline, One Air, has marked its first year of operations by connecting 28 global airports and transporting over…
Liebherr-Aerospace and AAR have announced the signing of a General Terms Agreement (GTA). Under this agreement, Liebherr will grant licence…
EirTrade Aviation, the global aviation asset management and trading company, has begun disassembling its first B777-300ER in Knock, Ireland. The…
JEKTA Switzerland, the developer of the zero-emissions PHA-ZE 100 amphibious aircraft, has signed an agreement with Seaplane Asia to add…
Embraer announced a significant development for Brazilian air traffic during the Farnborough International Airshow. Atech, an Embraer Group company specialising…
Boeing and Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline group, are set to enhance the efficiency of Ryanair’s primarily 737 fleet by incorporating…
Specialist regional aircraft lessor TrueNoord has secured a new five-year term loan with BayernLB. This agreement strengthens TrueNoord’s relationship with…
LanzaJet, a sustainable fuels technology company, has received a strategic investment from Airbus to help expand LanzaJet’s ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel…
Headquartered in Singapore with reporters spread across all major regions, GBP Aerospace & Defence is a leading media house that publishes three publications that serve the aerospace and defence sector - Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace and Daily News. Known industry-wide for quality journalism, GBP Aerospace & Defence is present at more international tradeshows and exhibitions than any other competing publication in the region.
For over three decades, our award-winning team of reporters has been producing top-notch content to help readers stay abreast of the latest developements in the field of commercial aviation, MRO, defence, and Space.
Copyright 2024. GBP. All Rights Reserved.
Home Defence & Security Space Commercial Aviation Maintence Repair & Overhaul Daily News Events About Us
2024 GBP all rights reserved.