I’m happy–but not surprised–to report that Lufthansa will bring back the Airbus A380 into service next summer.
Lufthansa A380 Will Return In Summer 2023
Human beings are creatures of habit and love to travel. Even in the early days of the pandemic when many predicted that travel would never rebound to 2019, I confidently predicted it would come roaring back…and roaring it is. Buoyed by unparalleled demand along with delivery delays of its Boeing 777 aircraft, Lufthansa has announced (almost a year in advance) that the A380 will return in the summer of 2023.
When the pandemic began, Lufthansa had a fleet of 14 Airbus A380 jets, which made up a sizable chunk of its first class footprint. Seen as inefficient and far too large to operate, Lufthansa mothballed these aircraft, even selling six of them. While never officially retiring them, it was very clear that it held out little hope for them ever returning to service.
Lufthansa has not yet indicated how many aircraft will return nor is it clear if it can re-purchase any of the six aircraft stored in France or Spain that it has sold.
Look for these aircraft to return on Munich routes, with Lufthansa announcing in May 2020 that if the A380 returned, it would be from its hub at Franz Josef Strauss International Airport (MUC). But specific routes have yet to be announced.
As a reminder, the Lufthansa A380 features:
- First Class – 8 seats
- Business Class – 78 seats
- Premium Economy Class – 52 seats
- Economy Class – 371 seats
(Check out my Economy, Premium Economy, and First Class reviews)
Lufthansa explained:
“In the summer of 2023, we not only expect to have a much more reliable air transport system worldwide. We will be welcoming you back on board our Airbus A380s, too. We decided today to put the A380, which continues to enjoy great popularity, back into service at Lufthansa in summer 2023. In addition to this, we are further strengthening and modernizing our fleets with some 50 new Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and Boeing 777-9 long-haul aircraft and more than 60 new Airbus A320/321s in the next three years alone.”
Lufthansa has also re-activated its Airbus A340 fleet, which is now operating from MUC.
CONCLUSION
Lufthansa plans to re-activate its A380. According to the current plane, these beautiful whales will take to the skies again in the summer 2023. I cannot wait to travel on the Lufthansa A380 again (but only in the cabin that has eight seats…).
(H/T: YHBU)
I’m looking forward to flying one of the BA A380s LHR-IAD in September. I always liked the A380. It was so quiet and was a smooth ride. You barely felt yourself taking off or landing. But I understood why they were phasing them out. And I would certainly not want to be in economy on one.
I also love how quiet it is.
I’ve reviewed the BA A380 in first class here–
https://liveandletsfly.com/british-airways-a380-first-class-review/
and economy class here–
https://liveandletsfly.com/british-airways-a380-economy-class-review/
Be careful though, I was scheduled on one last Thursday on BA LHR-IAD and it got swapped for a 777. With so few operating one small blip in the system (which is every hour these days) and they quickly replace it.
That is a big reduction in business class seats to a 777. One of my concerns these days with flights so crowded is a downgrade in the event of a cancellation.
Well, even further complicating it was the morning flight to IAD got canceled along with the aircraft swap on mine for the later. Probably close to 400-500 passengers affected. They moved a lot of them via JFK, BOS, etc. But during boarding they still had around 100 on standby at the gate waiting. It was turning ugly with people screaming, one woman even flinging her passport in the face of a BA agent.
The reason for the swap? As I said, one blip created the whole scenario. The A380 flight to IAD the day before had to divert to BOS due to storms at IAD and never made it there due to the crew timing out. With so few A380’s, BA had to use a 777 the next day. I imagine it will be something that can occur at any time. I only found out the morning of departure.
Much more substance to this article than lemons & limes.
I’m curious who bought the six A380’s they sold. I mean, is there actually a market?