The biggest customer for the Airbus A380 is now seeking to delay delivery for their final eight A380 aircraft. According to Bloomberg, Emirates is currently in discussion with Airbus over the timing of the handovers; no decision has been made yet.
With the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, Bloomberg reported that Emirates had already grounded more than twenty A380s; there are also plans to ground more aircraft in the near term. Some of these A380s are fitted with over 600 seat capacity.
Emirates is among one of the global airlines which have decided to ground their A380. Other carriers, such as Lufthansa and Qantas, have also made a similar decision.
Qantas has so far removed eight out of twelve A380s from the sky while Lufthansa has planned to pull all fourteen A380s out from their service.
As announced yesterday (12th March), Emirates is expecting further flight cuts. So far, they have suspended most China flights and stopped flights to Saudi Arabia, the biggest market in the Middle East.
Early last year, Emirates pared down their A380 order, which led Airbus to end their A380 production. Airbus is currently on track to deliver the final A380 to Emirates by 2021; though there may be a possibility that it will extend beyond 2021, as a result of this delay request.
