German carrier Lufthansa today took an Airbus A380 out storage for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic decimated air travel demand.
The A380 has been reactivated by storage and MRO specialist Tarmac Aerosave, and will be flown from its Teruel facility in Spain to Lufthansa in Frankfurt today.
Lufthansa placed its 14 A380s into storage early during the pandemic, with the carrier suggesting they would not return to service unless the post-Covid demand recovery was stronger than expected.
However, in June, Lufthansa said it would re-introduce some A380s next year to counter aircraft delivery delays and address a sharp rise in passenger demand.
Last month, chief executive Carsten Sphor said Lufthansa planned to bring back more A380s than three it already earmarked for operation from its Munich base from June 2023. “We’ll need to bring that number up [based on] the demand [trend] and for operational reasons… Three is not enough,” he said.
Cirium fleets data shows the reactivated aircraft, registration D-AIMK, entered service with the carrier in March 2014.
