Air France has moved up the planned retirement of its ten A380s as a result of the long shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic and it appears that neither the airline nor passengers will miss it much.
Air France had planned to phase out the jumbo planes within the next two years rather than spending significant money on cabin upgrades for a plane that has not been economically viable for the airline, and which passengers have complained provides one of the least-appealing and most outdated premium cabin experience.
Air France is widely believed to have actually never wanted the plane; its initial purchase may have been part of a national effort to get the plane, whose final assembly is done in France, off the ground. It will be replaced by more efficient A350s and 787s whose passenger capacity is also more in line with AF's needs.
While a few airlines, such as Emirates, which owns about half the A380s built, plan to continue flying it for years, numbers of other big buyers, including Singapore Airways and Qantas are phasing them out rapidly and Lufthansa may follow.
Photo: Jakkrit Prasertwit/Wikimedia
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