The Airbus A380 has sprung back into life as travel demand recovers following the sudden halt caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many airlines grounded their fleets in March 2020, with the A380 superjumbo, the world’s largest passenger plane, the first given its passenger volume and high running costs.
But as people around the world gradually started travelling again and airlines brought their fleets back up to size, how straightforward was it to get an A380 up and running again after months sitting idle?
The short answer is it is not easy, while the longer answer has been provided recently by Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.
The Australian airline parked all 12 of its A380s in June 2020 and plans to bring 10 of them back to meet passenger demand.
Mr Joyce explained what it entails to get the superjumbo back in the skies.
“Just to wake up an A380 is 4,500 hours, or two months, of manpower,” he said.
“That’s 10 engineers working for two months in the Mojave Desert — for one plane. They replace all 22 wheels, all 16 brakes, get rid of all of the oxygen cylinders and fire extinguishers. Everything on board the aircraft is replaced.”
“The aircraft is put up on jacks in the middle of the desert. It’s gear is tested, the aircraft’s engines are run in the desert to make sure that they’re all functioning. That’s just to get out of the desert to Los Angeles or to another maintenance facility.
“When the aircraft’s flown out, most of the aircraft then go through 100 days of maintenance on top of that,” Mr Joyce said.
Qantas came within 11 weeks of financial collapse at the height of the pandemic, Mr Joyce said last week.
According to Cirium, a UK aviation data and analytics company, an estimated inactive inventory of about 17,000 widebody, narrowbody and regional jets were in storage in March 2020. That's equivalent to more than 60 per cent of the world's fleet.
In March 2020, when coronavirus restrictions hit, Dubai-based Emirates, the biggest operator of the A380, parked up 218 of its entire fleet of 270 aircraft.
The A380s and Boeing 777s were split between Dubai World Central, where 117 jets were sent, and Dubai International Airport, which took 101 of the wide-body fleet.
Once parked, every engine, wheel and tail had to be covered by Emirates crew, an operation that took 15,500 hours of work.
Once the jets are wrapped up, there's more to be done. Engineering teams complete checks on the jets every seven, 15 and 30 days.
Emirates plans to increase its operating capacity to 80 per cent by the end of this year.
It has just started a retrofitting project on many of its A380s, which will include premium-economy seats.
-
Airbus will stop production of its A380 superjet by 2021 Reuters -
People look at a Emirates A380 airbus landing in Nice, south of France. AFP -
Sheikh Mohammed takes a tour of an Emirates A380 during the opening ceremony of the Dubai Airshow in 2013. AFP -
A visitor poses for a photo in front of an Emirates A380 Airbus passenger aircraft decorated with a giant portrait of UAE founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan. AFP -
Airbus and Emirates celebrate the 100th A380 in 2018. Courtesy Emirates -
The A380 is the World biggest passenger jet . AP -
Emirates will receive 14 more A380s from Airbus before the plane maker ends production. Courtesy Emirates -
Airbus said Thursday it will stop making A380 superjumbo jets in 2021 after struggling to win clients. AP Photo -
Interior of Business Class on an Emirates A380. Courtesy: Emirates -
Interior of Business Class on Emirates A380. Courtsey: Emirates -
An air stewardess arranges bedsheets of a double bed in a suite of Singapore Airlines' new Airbus A380 during a tour of the plane at Changi Airport in Singapore. AFP -
An Airbus A380, the largest passenger jet in the world, in Dubai. The airline topped a list of attractive employers in a recent survey of Gen Y and Gen Z. EPA -
The special Emirates A380 will be in service with the Real Madrid decal for six months. Courtesy Emirates -
United for Wildlife Emirates A380 before its first flight to London. Courtesy Emirates Airline -
An Etihad Airways A380 at the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Christopher Pike / The National -
A Singapore Airlines Airbus in the snow at JFK, 2018. Reuters -
Etihad Airways economy on an A380. Courtesy Etihad -
The Lobby of an Etihad Airways A380. AFP -
Aermacchi MB-339 jets from UAE's Al-Fursan display team perform with an Airbus A380 from Etihad Airways before the start of the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit. AFP -
An Emirates Airbus A380 plane in Beirut, Lebanon. AP Photo -
An Emirates Airline A-380 leads UAE's "Al Fursan" aerobatic display team, during the opening day of the Dubai Air Show. AP Photo -
The tail of the Airbus A-380 at the 46th Paris Air Show. Getty Images -
An Emirates Airbus A380 plane is seen at Nice International airport in Nice, France. REUTERS -
An Airbus SAS A380 super jumbo performs a flying display on day two of the 51st International Paris Air Show in Paris, France. Bloomberg -
Line Emirates is one of the airlines included in the TSA's emergency order. Courtesy Emirates -
Tthe A380 has been Airbus’s flagship project for the past two decades. Bloomberg -
A British Airways A380. Courtesy British Airways -
A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 at Beijing airport. AFP -
New wheels on the Emirates A380. Courtesy Emirates -
At Dubai's Miracle Garden, more than five million flowers were grown to produce a full-size Emirates Airbus A380. Courtesy Guinness World Records
In February 2019, Airbus announced it would end production of the A380.
Emirates received the last manufactured A380 in December last year.
Conceived in the early 1990s, the A380 was unveiled in December 2000 and entered commercial service on October 25, 2007, with Singapore Airlines.
