Emirates has retired their first ever A380 aircraft, A6-EDA. The aircraft will be upcycled and recycled into furniture and memorabilia collectibles for aviation enthusiasts.
After completing its last commercial mission in March 2020, A6-EDA was retired from service and brought to the airline’s Engineering Centre; here Emirates engineers retrieved serviceable components such as engines, landing gears and flight control components. The aircraft was then deregistered and handed over to the Falcon Aircraft Recycling team, to begin the process of carefully breaking down the aircraft.
Emirates’ first A380, previously operating as A6-EDA, was retired after an illustrious service record:
- Delivered from Airbus’ Hamburg facility on: 28th July 2008
- First commercial flight: Dubai-New York JFK on 01st August 2008
- Last commercial flight: Singapore-Dubai on 08th March 2020
- Total number of flights: 6,319
- Airports visited: 62
Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said: “We are delighted to partner with Falcon Aircraft Recycling on this first-of-its-kind project. Through this initiative, our customers and fans can take home a piece of aviation history while saving valuable materials from landfill and contributing to a charitable cause through the Emirates Airline Foundation. It’s an elegant and fitting retirement solution for this iconic aircraft and our flagship.”
Andrew Tonks, Director of Falcon Aircraft Recycling, said: “This is our most ambitious project to date, which will see the first deconstruction of an A380 outside of Europe. Approximately 190 tonnes of various metals, plastics, carbon fibre composites and other materials will be removed from the aircraft and passed on for recycling or repurposing via our upcycling program with Wings Craft.
Partnering with Wings Craft, another UAE-based firm that specialises in producing custom furniture and merchandise from aircraft materials, Falcon Aircraft Recycling will design and manufacture unique collectibles and retail items from the materials and parts removed from the aircraft. These items will be launched for sale in phases over the coming months.
Recently, I was able to acquire 2 used half carts from Emirates Red Shop at the Emirates HQ in Dubai. I was then able to apply my own graphic on one of them. The used half cart is selling for 499 AED ($135). A portion of profits from the sale of all items upcycled and recycled from Emirates’ first retired A380 will go to the Emirates Airline Foundation.
Wings Craft shop in the UAE will be selling the rest of the collectibles such as window frames, coffee tables and aviation metal tags in the near future. Check out their Instagram for update.
So shocking to see. The poor 12 year old A380 (2008-2020) looks like an older, beaten up, corroded and neglected 40-50 year old 747 I’ve seen being scrapped, and usually those old 747s had tough after-pax lives as freighters.
The median age for retiring aircraft is 20 years of age.
Why is Emirates retiring it’s A380s so early. They’re still relatively young given with its age.
They can afford to do so that’s why. Retiring planes early is a common pattern with airlines like Qatar, Singapore etc who try to maintain very young fleets.
This 380 will probably be replaced by a newer one of Emirates so no big deal overall.
Looks like the plane was retired and discarded at the D-Check interval given its age.
Wow, just hard to believe that a young & state of the art aircraft is so easily discarded. Wonder if one will ever tur up in a aviation museum.