Due to strong ticket demand: Lufthansa is considering the A380 comeback

Due to strong ticket demand
Lufthansa is thinking about the A380 comeback

Originally there were 14 examples of the world’s largest passenger jet, the A380, in the Lufthansa fleet. However, even before Corona, the airline was returning six machines to Airbus, the rest as a result of the pandemic. The airline is now examining reactivation of the giant jets.

In view of the strong demand for tickets, Lufthansa is considering a return of its mothballed Airbus A380 giant jets. A reactivation of the machines will be checked for next summer, said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr at the General Assembly of the World Aviation Association IATA in Doha. A decision on this should be made this July.

Lufthansa 6.43

In April, Spohr no longer confirmed the future of the A380 in the group. “She won’t come back to Lufthansa,” he told Der Spiegel. In May, he did not completely rule out reactivating some of the eight remaining machines in the series – but only if demand unexpectedly recovered.

Lufthansa originally had 14 of the world’s largest passenger jets in its fleet. Even before the corona pandemic, management had decided to return six of the machines to Airbus. The group shut down the remaining jets due to the slump in business as a result of the pandemic.

change in the labor market

Despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by the corona pandemic, international aviation is looking to the future with optimism: the number of passengers this year will reach 83 percent of the level before the crisis, forecast the aviation association Iata, which met in Doha in Qatar for the annual conference. The airlines’ losses this year are likely to amount to 9.7 billion dollars (9.2 billion euros). However, this is an “enormous improvement” compared to the two previous years, which were strongly influenced by the corona pandemic and the associated restrictions, the association explained.

Losses in 2020 were $137.7 billion, compared to $42.1 billion in 2021. According to Iata, after the number of passengers has increased again this year, the goal of returning to profitability should come “within reach” again next year.

The meeting in Doha lasts until Tuesday. The General Assembly was originally supposed to take place in Shanghai, but due to the Chinese government’s strict anti-corona policy, the participants had to change their plans.

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