Final call for the China Southern Airbus A380 as retirement now set

Anyone wanting to get on board the China Southern Airbus A380 had better do so soon. The Chinese carrier has indicated that their five aircraft will be retired by the end of 2022.

It marks another ending for the world’s largest passenger plane, as airlines continue to send them into retirement. Modern twins are far more economical these days, relegating the A380 to only a few niche routes where it can make money.

China Southern Airbus A380

Delivered between October 2011 and February 2013, China Southern configured their aircraft with seats for 506 passengers. There are eight first class suites on the lower deck, 70 business class seats upstairs, and 428 economy class seats.

The forward starboard side of the upper deck features some storage cabinets, as opposed to anything fancy. During flight, self-service drinks and snacks are put out for business class passengers on top, making for a bar.

What Routes Is It Flying?

According to the China Southern website, you can find the A380 on daily flights between Guangzhou and Los Angeles. In addition, they are operating Beijing to Guangzhou and Beijing to Shenzhen flights.

Checking flight tracking, it shows that one operated Sydney to Guangzhou on 6 March, so that may also be a current route. Options are certainly limited anyway!

Overall Thoughts

China Southern will only have the A380 in service for a matter of months now. Two aircraft may already be retired, as both positioned from Victorville to Mojave in late February. Anyone looking to check this one off their list had better do so soon.

Have you ever flown on board the China Southern super jumbo? What was it like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Melvinnnnnnnnnnn (FN2187) on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.