Emirates holds on to its A380s – despite corona crisis

We have reported a lot about the current standstill in aviation in the WingMag in the last weeks. Beside the large number of temporarily parked airplanes, many airlines decided to retire some of their aircraft early. Especially the famous Airbus A380 was affected. Even before the beginning of the corona crisis it became clear that the time of the A380 could soon run out, the pandemic now created facts. Lufthansa announced that of the parked 14 giants, only seven will most likely resume service for the German airline.

However, there could be a ray of hope for all A380 enthusiasts. As Emirates has announced, they intend to retain most of their A380 fleet. In an interview with the Financial Times, Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates, assured:

We’re not getting rid of any of them apart from I think three that are coming out and nine 777s that were scheduled to come out this year… [The A380 has a] place in the Emirates international network on the scale it has before. Albeit not today or fully next year, but the year after I think there will be a place for it and I think it is going to be extremely popular.

Sir Tim Clark

If Emirates were to become one of the last airlines to have A380s in its fleet in a few years’ time, this could also give it a certain market advantage. After all, anyone who has ever flown an A380 will appreciate the Airbus giant. Emirates A380 fleet could thus become a popular enthusiast item. Direct competitors of Emirates, such as Qatar Airways, recently announced that they may never again operate their ten A380s.

Picture © Tim Dennert

by Johanna Koyser