Air France will phase out its entire fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos by 2022. The airline currently operates a fleet of ten Airbus A380s.
According to Air France, the A380 consumes 20-25% more fuel per seat than new generation long-haul aircraft. Furthermore, increasing aircraft maintenance costs, as well as necessary cabin refurbishments reduce the economic profitability of the airline’s A380 fleet.
In November last year, it has already been reported that the French flag-carrier plans to retire a handful of its Airbus A380 aircraft in the near future.
The Air France-KLM Group has not yet decided on a replacement aircraft for the A380s, but is “studying possible replacement options for these aircraft with new generation aircraft currently on the market“.
Earlier this year, aircraft manufacturer Airbus announced that it will end its Airbus A380 programme. Singapore Airlines has already phased out several Airbus A380s and other airlines, including Lufthansa and Qatar Airways, also plan to retire at least some of their A380 jets. On the other hand, All Nippon Airways received its first Airbus A380 superjumbo in March and Emirates will take delivery of its final A380s until 2021. Moreover, Maltese charter airline HiFly Malta started operations with a second-hand Airbus A380, which was previously owned by Singapore Airlines.
Read more: Air France-KLM signed a commitment for 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
Nick Wenzel founded International Flight Network in 2016. He is the Social Media Manager and an Editor for IFN.news.
