Air France became the first airline to confirm the complete immediate retirement of their A380 fleet.
”Initially scheduled by the end of 2022, the phase-out of Airbus A380 fleet fits in the Air France-KLM Group fleet simplification strategy of making the fleet more competitive, by continuing its transformation with more modern, high-performance aircraft with a significantly reduced environmental footprint,”
Air France - KLM Group Statement
Prior to the pandemic, the airline had already begun withdrawing the first of their A380s in February; as part of the planned phase-out over the next three years. The first aircraft entered storage at Ireland West Airport near Knock on 20th February under the care of Eirtrade Aviation.
According to FlightGlobal, five of the Airbus A380 aircraft in the current fleet are owned by Air France or are on finance lease; a further four are on operating lease. Air France announced a fresh 500 million euro ($548.50 million) writedown as it permanently retires their A380 fleet.
In December Air France-KLM Group said they were ordering another 10 Airbus A350-900s, which would be used to replace the company’s A380s.
Farewell Air France A380
Here are pictures of Air France A380 taken in LAX and JFK, 2 of the staple Air France A380 destinations. The Air France A380 also flew to Shanghai, Johannesburg, Abidjan, San Francisco and Mexico City.
I flew on Air France A380 F-HPJG back in 2017 from Tokyo to Paris. That was a marvelous experience to ride this super jumbo. The aircraft was really spacious especially in business class and first class. Sadly to see Air France retire all A380 planes. I even brought an A380 skin cut which cut the exact aircrat I was on “F-HPJG”. It was very hard nowadays to find an A380 flight expect from Dubai and Singapore. That was good old time! Really miss this jumbo! I
I am currently working on some Air France points travel for June 2021 – and Paris to JFK , and to Atl are showing daily A380 flights. When do you expect them to be pulled?
Airline schedules are slow to update, due to the dynamic situation during covid and part time working on scheduler (also high changes means high workload)
Not sad to see it go. Flew af Cdg to lax on a 380 last year and it was very run down, hot, bad seats. They need an upgrade for sure.
Hi Sam, I’d like to add that the AF A380 also flew to YUL for a season or two. 2011 summer for sure and possibly 2012
It is sad to see the A380 being retired by Air France (and perhaps many other airlines, if it hasn’t already). I have flown in the A380 a few times and loves it very much and when introduced the A380 was an engineering feat but was late on arrival when airlines were more interested in twin-engine fuel-efficient engines like the 787 or A350.
With COVID-19, who would have thought a virus would actually put the A380 in the chopping board.