Airbus Updates No.2741

Airbus A380	-842	29		VH-OQF	Qantas	ferried 14jul20 LAX-VCV for onward storage	ex F-WWSA
Airbus A380	-842	50		VH-OQH	Qantas	ferried 13jul20 MEL-VCV for onward storage	ex F-WWAE
Airbus A380	-842	74		VH-OQL	Qantas	ferried 17jul20 SYD-LAX prior onward storage at VCV	ex F-WWSL
Airbus A380	-861	99		F-HPJH	Air France	ferried 16jul20 CDG-LDE for onward storage	ex F-WWAF
Airbus A380	-841	173		G-XLEI	British Airways	ferried 16jul20 CHR-LHR after storage	ex F-WWSB

Airbus Updates No.2709

Au revoir: Air France operates its final A380 flight Friday

Air France is sending its Airbus A380s off to retirement with little public fanfare. The airline is welcoming staff who used to work the aircraft along for one special final flight, one to which passengers aren’t invited.

On Friday, Air France’s final planned A380 flight will take to the skies with just its A380 staff on board. Operating as Air France flight AF380, the aircraft will fly from the airline’s home base at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and back.

With a planned departure time of around 3:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET), the aircraft will take a “tour de France” route around the country, before landing back at CDG around 5:45 p.m. local time (11:45 a.m. ET). On Friday, you can track the flight here.

AF380 will be operated by the superjumbo registered as F-HPJH. The aircraft is just a little more than eight years old, with Air France having taken delivery of it in May 2012. According to PlaneSpotters, F-HPJH was withdrawn from service on March 23. Its last commercial flight was from Miami to Paris on March 22, before being stored as a result of the coronavirus crisis and its devastating effect on the aviation industry.

While Air France has had a troubled relationship with the A380, it was the first European airline to operate the superjumbo in 2009. The carrier’s first commercial flight with the A380 departed on Nov. 23, 2009, from Paris (CDG) to New York (JFK) — also as flight AF380.

Over the course of the 11 years the airline flew the A380, it operated a total of 10 of the aircraft, serving 16 destinations. During the course of its lifetime, the A380 operated more than 40,000 flights for Air France and carried almost 18 million passengers, most frequently serving New York JFK. The aircraft also operated flights to Johannesburg, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Shanghai, Abidjan, Hong Kong, Miami, Tokyo, Montreal, Singapore, Atlanta, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and even London — for short crew-training flights — during its lifetime.

In May, the airline announced that it would be retiring its entire A380 fleet effective immediately. Benjamin Smith, CEO of the Air France-KLM Group, long opposed the A380 in Air France’s fleet, deeming it too inefficient. In replacement of the superjumbo, Air France will use its smaller but more fuel-efficient twin-engine Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft.

While many AvGeeks love the A380 for its sheer size, Air France’s version of the aircraft left a lot to be desired. Inside the aircraft, each of the four cabins on board offered a sub-par passenger experience — even in La Première, the carrier’s award-winning first-class product.

In a post-coronavirus aviation world, airlines will be forced to re-evalute their fleet plans and route networks. The A380 has largely been one of the first things to go for airlines looking to conserve cash during the period of reduced demand. Lufthansa confirmed that its A380s will remain grounded until at least 2021, and will only return if demand does.

Meanwhile, for the world’s largest A380 carrier Emirates, the plan is to resume A380 service to both London and Paris from July 15.

Airbus Updates No.2703

Airbus A320	-251N	9520		SE-RUA	SAS	delivery 26jun20 XFW-ARN	ex D-AXAC
Airbus A320	-251N	9535		B-30EZ	China Southern	delivery 23jun20 TSN-CAN-SZX	ex B-000V
Airbus A320	-251N	9579		B-30F8	China Southern	delivery 25jun20 TSN-CAN	ex B-007L
Airbus A321	-211	6038		OE-IOV	Air Lease Corp	regd 23jun 20, parked at SNN (+ 6122 OE-IOW, parked at LCQ)	x G-TCDD
Airbus A321	-251N	7807		SE-RKB	Novair	ferried 22/26jun20 ARN-LDE-ARN for mx**	ex D-AVZB
Airbus A321	-251NX	8796		CS-TSH	Azores Airlines	posn 23jun20 LDE-LIS after storage	ex D-AVZD
Airbus A321	-271NX	9285		VT-IUO	IndiGo Airlines	delivery 23jun20 XFW-DEL	ex D-AYAM
Airbus A321	-251NX	9289		HL8394	Air Busan	delivery 23-24jun20 XFW-OVB-ICN	ex D-AZAC
Airbus A321	-251NX	9462		TC-RBE	Pegasus Airlines	delivery 24jun20 XFW-SAW	ex D-AZAW
Airbus A321	-251NX	9478		EC-NGP	Iberia Express	delivery 26jun20 XFW-MAD	ex D-AVXZ
Airbus A330	-202	814		EC-JZL	Air Europa	ferried 26jun20 PMI-CHR	ex F-WWYJ
Airbus A330	-343	1296		G-VRAY	Virgin Atlantic Airways	ferried 24jun20 DSA-CQM for onward storage (+ 1206 G-VLUV 26jun20)	ex F-WWYJ
Airbus A330	-343	1352		G-VUFO	Virgin Atlantic Airways	ferried 22jun20 MAN-CQM for onward storage	ex F-WWCR
Airbus A330	-343	1357		N803AV	Avianca Colombia	ferried 24jun20 MDE-HAM on return to Goal Aviation Leasing	ex B-22101
Airbus A330	-343	1378		D-AAAV	Goal Aviation Leasing	ferried 20jun20 MDE-HAM, seen regd 25jun20 prior ferry to ETMN for storage	ex N804AV
Airbus A350	-941	419		EC-NJM	Iberia	delivery 19jun20 TLS-MAD "Flamenco"	ex F-WZNM
Airbus A380	-861	99		F-HPJH	Air France	farewell Air France A380 flt 26jun20 CDG-CDG	ex F-WWAF
Airbus A400M	-180	103		54+34	Luftwaffe	delivery 22jun20 SVQ-ETNW	ex A4M103

Airbus Updates No.2664

AIR FRANCE TO WITHDRAW AIRBUS A380 PERMANENTLY WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT 

AirFrance announced this afternoon (Wednesday) that it is withdrawing all of its A380’s from service permanently from today.

Having decided nealry a year ago not to spend the almost $US75m it would have taken to refurbish the aircraft interiors (they’re as delivered), the ailrine then said it would remove half of them on lease by 2022 and then the rest as appropriate, but likely by 2028.

Following the Covid19 pandemic, and the long road ahead to return to 2019 flight levels, the airline has decided to remove them immediately, making the largest aircraft in the airlines fleet its 773ER’s.

The aircraft are for the most part barely ten to eleven years old with the youngest just six.

Its an extremely sad day for aviation enthusiasts and must be deeply disheartening for those who spent millions of man hours assembling these huge aircraft, which should really have lasted at least thirty years.

Airbus Updates No.699

Airbus A319  -111  2446     VP-BDZ  RusLine  ferried 02may12 SEN-OSR for paint prior delivery   ex G-Ezie
 Airbus A319  -133  5105     B-6420  West Air  delivery 02may12 XFW-OVB  ex d-AVYS
 Airbus A320  -231  169     XA-PAL  InterJet  N-reg canx 23apr12, delivery 01may12 VCV-TLC for use as ground trainer   ex N196AG
 Airbus A320  -231  415     LY-COS  Avion Express  posn 27apr12 DUB-MAD, all wh, ops for Cosmo Airlines, in svc 28apr12 MAD-BRU-MAD  ex EI-ETM
 Airbus A320  -214  590     N593SC  GECAS  ferried 28apr12 RIX-SNN, basic Vietnam Airlines cs   ex VN-A301
 Airbus A320  -214  724     YL-LCI  smartLynx Airlines  posn 30apr12 ARN-NCL for summer-ops, all white, Thomas Cook tail logo  ex F-WTAO
 Airbus A320  -214  1564     HK-4811  VivaColombia  delivery 30apr12 SJO-MDE  ex N260AV
Airbus A320  -233  1730     TC-ATJ  AtlasJet  delivery 27apr12 SEN-IST  ex TC-IZL
 Airbus A320  -232  1914     EC-LRE  Vueling  delivery 28apr12 PGF-BCN   ex EI-EUH
 Airbus A320  -232  1993     EI-ELN  (Avia Nova)  ferried 02may12 SEN-WOE for paint into?  ex G-TTOH
 Airbus A320  -232  2210     EI-EUA  Livingston  in full cs at SNN 02may12 after paint prior delivery   ex EC-IYG
Airbus A321  -231  954     EI-ETL  Kolavia MetroJet  regd 30apr12 prior delivery ex IST  ex TC-OAK
 Airbus A321  -211  1607     D-AIAA  Condor Berlin  re-regd & delivery 30apr12 DUS-SXF  ex D-ALSD
 Airbus A321  -211  5133     D-ABCK  Air Berlin  delivery 02may12 XFW-TXL  ex D-AVZD
 Airbus A330  -243  309     OY-VKF  Thomas Cook Scandinavia   ferried 28apr12 OSL-MAN on lease to Thomas Cook Airlines   ex G-CSJS
Airbus A330  -343  833     CS-TRH  Orbest  ferried 30apr12 TLS-LIS after winter-lease to XL Airways France  ex EC-KCP
 Airbus A380  -861  99     F-HPJH  Air France  delivery 02may12 XFW-CDG  ex F-WWAF