Air France quietly retired its first of 10 Airbus A380s last week. I’m still on the fence as to whether to invest in such an outdated product.
F-HPJB continued onto Malta Saturday after arriving in Paris from Johannesburg. The Air France livery will be painted over and its future is unknown…Singapore’s retired A380 has not been all that useful to others.
This particular model was one of Air France’s leased A380s. It leased five and owns five. The leased models will be returned first, with the A380 fleet gradually retired over the next three years. The last A380 will be retired in 2022.
Why Will Air France Retire Its A380 Fleet?
Air France has begun to retire its A380 fleet for six primary reasons:
- A380 Fleet is Too Small
- A380 is Operationally Unreliable
- Unplanned Heavy Maintenance Checks
- Pricey Interior Cabin Retrofits
- Reduced Frequencies
- No Compelling Slot Restrictions At A380 Airports
> Read More: Six Reasons Air France Is Retiring A380
Air France will become the first airline in the world to retire its entire A380 fleet.
Should I Still Fly It?
I’m still thinking about that A380 trip on Air France. I’ve made it a goal to review the first class product of every single airline that offers it. I’ve almost met that goal, having flown the A380 on:
- ANA
- Asiana
- British Airways
- China Southern
- Emirates
- Etihad
- Lufthansa
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- Thai Airways
I’ve just got two left: Korean Air and Air France. I know that Air France will technically fall off that list when the aircraft is retired. Even so, I cannot shake this desire to review it…just to experience it once.
I’d need a very attractive price to do this…there is no way I am using miles for it. Barring that, maybe I’ll book business class and hope I can upgrade for cheap. Then again, if I splurge for the first class experience once again, I want to ensure there is time to enjoy the beautiful first class ground experience in Paris CDG.
Please let me know in the comments section below if you see any sweet deals invovling Air France La Premiere on the A380.
CONCLUSION
The Air France A380 retirement process has already begun. While most will not miss the outdated seats onboard, there is something sad about such a majestic whale of a bird leaving the skies.
Will you miss the Air France A380?
> Read More on the Air France A380
- Even A Fancy Onboard Shower Or Bar Would Not Have Saved Air France A380
- My Strong Desire To Fly The Air France A380…
- Air France A380 Retirement Is Hardly A Surprise
- Air France May Retire A380 Even Earlier
- Six Reasons Air France Is Retiring A380
- Air France A380 Decision Is Sad, But Smart
- Air France First Class Awards: Sensible Or Foolish?
image: Air France
I have read that sometimes their Asia and Africa destinations are more budget-friendly in First, and if I recall correctly, the Air France website allows you to book mixed cabins. First to JNB, and return in economy?
Correct.
Since you’re that close to your goal, I think you need to do it. Just prepare to be underwhelmed by the seat and savor the service and the lounge instead.
Maybe keep an eye on something ex-YYZ to North Africa or Colombo?
My goals are fewer. It is to fly aboard the A380, period.
I doubt I need to fly via Dubai. That leaves QF to Australia, SQ JFK-FRA-SIN, BA to London, and LH to Germany. That is it. I flew to Germany last but, darn, it was not an A380. Still, the A340-600 was fun, especially the lavatorys in the basement. Ok, not a basement.
I have mixed feeling about Air France retiring the A380. This past January I flew from Paris to Johannesburg and back on the big Airbus. Boarding at CDG was a total madhouse. You’d have thought it was the very first A380 flight anywhere, EVER. Hundreds of people pushing forward as if trying to board the last lifeboat on ‘Titanic’. All the while airport staff making repeated announcements that no one could hear.
Once on board, calm reigned in the (more private) forward Business Class cabin. Flight attendants on both the southbound and northbound flights were excellent; smiling, gracious, and perfectly groomed. Meals were delicious, as they usually are on this carrier. I particularly liked the large lavatory at the front of the aircraft, on the port side. It’s roomy enough to make changing in and out of pajamas struggle-free. Unfortunately, there is no duplicate lavatory on the starboard side. Instead there’s just empty floor space and a row of bulkhead-mounted video monitors running a silent video about Paris on a continuous loop. “What the ____?” A totally wasted space.
The biggest disappointment of course is the angled seats, which are fine for sitting-up, but awful when trying to sleep. It’s a constant struggle to keep from sliding down onto the floor. I really don’t understand what Air France was thinking when they installed these seats. It was already common knowledge among travelers that ‘angled flat’ equals ‘uncomfortable’.
It disappoints me that Lufthansa and British Airways have seriously invested in their A380’s while Air France has from the time of their delivery seemed to look forward to their retirement. It reminds me of Concorde, which British Airways endeavored to find markets for – including a popular Air/Sea package with Cunard Line – while Air France was content to offer a single daily flight to New York. I wonder if both the Concorde and A380 were pushed on Air France because they were seen as largely French creations and therefore should be flown by France’s flagship carrier. Sad, really, because the A380 is a marvel of an aircraft, and it looks stunning in Air France’s timeless livery. I will miss seeing these planes – if not necessarily flying them…
I actually really liked La Premiere on the A380, but it isn’t as nice as some other first products and, based on the number of times, there’s been an AF A380 mechanical delay on more occasions than I can recall amongst my parents’ frequent LAX-CDG flights.
If it’s the one I flew back from Washington to London on in October it should have been scrapped years ago.
you forgot air india too has first class……..
But no A380.
Hi,
You don’t really know Air France as you forgot the main reason why they are retiring it.
A380 cabin was negotiated with the pilot and flight attendants unions to be business heavy. As a result crews on the a380 are extremely massive making those flights not really profitable.
Now, Ben Smith cannot engage in negotiations to refurbish the cabin (was planned before him) as it will create a union fight that he doesn’t need currently. So you just retire a plane that is not profitable for union reasons and you do not look like you want to get in a fight with them.
This is the main reason of the retirement of the a380 at air France.
They used the stop of the production to solve a union problem.
Pretty smart from Ben smith
@Jauffret
Wasn’t it crew duty time issues that hampered Air France’s Concorde service to New York? My understanding is that flight attendants (and maybe pilots too) contractually could not be assigned a same-day Paris-New York roundtrip , which would only have been about a 10-hour duty day. So Concorde crews worked 3.5 hours to New York and went to a Manhattan hotel, working back to Paris the next day. $$$$$$$