Airlines around the world are storing their planes. In some cases runways at major airports are being closed and are being used at parking lots, while in other cases airlines are parking planes at smaller airports.
Well, the way a British Airways A380 was parked is making headlines, and this comes only shortly after a British Airways A350 and Emirates 777 collided in Dubai.
British Airways parking A380s in Chateauroux
British Airways has a fleet of a dozen Airbus A380s, and they’re in the process of parking these planes in Chateauroux, France. Unlike some other airlines, British Airways doesn’t have plans to retire these immediately, at least as of now.
The airport doesn’t have regularly scheduled commercial flights, though it does have some charter passenger and cargo flights. Now the airport is being used to store British Airways A380s, given that it has a runway of over 11,500 feet, and it’s also a few hundred miles from Heathrow.
It’s pretty cool to see the footage of how these A380s are all being parked next to one another on a taxiway, at an angle.
Interestingly this isn’t the first time the airline has used the airport — British Airways also uses the airport for flight training, so you can find pictures and videos of all kinds of British Airways aircraft taking off and landing at the airport.
British Airways A380 crushes taxiway
Yesterday (April 15) a British Airways A380 with the registration code G-XLED arrived at Chateauroux after a 58 minute flight from Heathrow. The plane was being parked when it completely tore apart the concrete along the edge of the taxiway.
It’s not known exactly which wheels caused this, and also whether the plane was being controlled from the cockpit, or by a tug.
Apparently there was a misunderstanding as to whether or not the outer area of the taxiway could be used. Clearly it can’t sustain the weight, and that was the problem. However, given the massive plane and tight turns required to park it, I can totally see how this happened.
I’m still not sure if the nose gear caused the damage, or if it was the left rear set of wheels.
Bottom line
British Airways is parking their Airbus A380s in Chateauroux, France. One of the most recent A380s to land there didn’t taxi in the right area, causing significant damage to the taxiway.
This is a reminder of just how heavy planes are, to the point that they can quite literally crush concrete if not taxiing in the correct areas. The A380 has an empty weight of just under 600K pounds.
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