The big news of the day is Air France replacing all A380s with the Airbus A330neo. While it has been known for some time that the French carrier would ditch three Airbus A380s at the end of their leases, this has now escalated to a total retirement of the fleet.
Bean counters have determined that it is too expensive to continue flying the double-decker, since they require a cabin refurbishment and a major check. Instead, more twins are the answer.
Air France Replacing All A380s In Numbers
Looking into the numbers provides a pretty grim story. According to Flight Global, Air France quote cabin refurbishments costing €35 million per A380, plus another €50 million each for their 12 year major maintenance checks. That’s €595 million for seven aircraft!
Compounding the issue is the per-seat fuel consumption. This is quoted in another article at 20-25% higher than the most modern twins available at the moment. Put all of that together and you can see that the case for retiring the Airbus A380 at Air France is a good one.
Replacing It With An A330neo Though?
Intriguingly, Air France are evaluating the Airbus A330neo as a replacement for the Airbus A380 fleet. They believe that nine neos can replace their fleet of ten superjumbos.
Overall Thoughts
Air France replacing all A380s was always a possibility. Having to put such a huge amount of money into them to update the cabins, coupled with the relative inefficiency compared to today’s twins means removing them from the fleet is the right decision. The first three come off lease in 2020, and the remaining seven are due to be gone by 2022.
Qatar Airways are also planning to retire their Airbus A380s early and Malaysia Airlines also want to get rid of their fleet. Unfortunately there is little or no second hand market for the aircraft. The first Singapore Airlines jets to be retired were mostly scrapped for parts. Just one went on to another operator for ad hoc charter work.
What do you think of the news that Air France is retiring the Airbus A380s? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Basil D Soufi and TAP A330neo by km30192002. Both via Wikimedia Commons.
What in the world will Emirates do with their fleet of (inefficient) A380s? They went all-in on the superjumbos, and it’s tough to see an easy exit path for them.
I imagine they’ll eventually replace them all with twins. Though I guess that won’t be for quite some time yet… they have a huge number of them, as they were integral to their business model. As long as they make money for the airline, then there’s no reason to get rid of them. Qantas find them profitable so they remain in the fleet – it varies airline by airline.
Leasing means that Airbus own the plane?
Usually it means an aircraft leasing company owns the aircraft, and the airline pays a monthly fee to operate it over an agreed term in years. Once Air France decide not to renew the lease, the leasing company will be responsible for finding another airline to take it, or failing that, will scrap the aircraft to recoup some cash. Usually reusable items such as the engines and other components will go onto the used parts market, so it’s not all recycled.
What’s the price of an A330?
According to the Airbus 2018 price list, an Airbus A330neo will set you back US$296.4 million. However, airlines never pay list prices, it’s usually quite a bit less.
Air France would be crazy to keep the A380’s, then. With the pace of retirements, I guess I’d best look around for a A380 flight next year. I’d like to try one at least once.
You’ll be okay, Qantas are paying to put their 12 through maintenance and a total cabin refit, so they’ll be around until the late 2020s if not the early 2030s at least. Emirates are still taking delivery of the Airbus A380 and will get the last ones, so they’ll be in service 10-15 years, so it will be the end of the 2020s / start of the 2030s when they’ll become ultra rare. You’ve still plenty of time!