Etihad has now become the latest carrier to ground its Airbus A380 fleet according to data from Cirium. The aircraft has found itself in a sticky situation; of the 240 planes currently with airlines around the world, just 21 are in service. Cirium data has shown that Emirates is the largest operator of the plane with 15 in service. Further, the other airlines using the aircraft include China Southern Airlines, with five, and Korean Air with one.
Emirates has half of the A380s in the world currently in storage
Emirates has almost half of the A380s in the world currently in storage. 102 are on the tarmac while Singapore Airlines (19), Lufthansa (14) and Qantas (12) also have a large number out of service. It is yet to be seen how many will fly commercially again. IATA predicted that passenger figures will not return to levels seen in 2019 until at least 2024.
Airbus did previously say that it may stop manufacturing the aircraft this year. Air France, Lufthansa and Qantas have laid out plans to curtail the use of the A380 following the Covid-19 pandemic. 14 years after its launch, the Airbus A380 may actually be ending its run.Â
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