At the start of the pandemic, Etihad Airways grounded its fleet of Airbus A380s. At the time, the plan was for the jets to be retired permanently. Fortunately executives at the airline had a change of heart, and in 2023, we saw the Abu Dhabi-based carrier’s A380s return to the skies.
Continue reading: When Will Etihad Airways Retire Airbus A380s?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I'm still trying to get to fly on any A380 - on my list of aircraft flown its absence really stands out like a sore thumb!
One thing you might potentially note about the A380 is that the airframe is more "settled" in-flight than the B777. In short, it's a smoother ride. Best of luck.
still my fav airplane, smooth and quiet! A350 comes close but still not as smooth as 380 for landing and on air.
It’s def tougher to achieve if you live in the USA. Chicago has only ever had one a380 visitor. British airways.
Sydney has a ton of a380s on the tarmac at any time. Let alone Dubai or even London.
Surprised it hasn’t returned to Sydney. Saying that I know next to nothing about airline logistics. More out of hope. Did Abu Dhabi to Sydney apartments in 2019 and it’s still my favorite flight.
"When Will Etihad Airways Retire Airbus A380s?"
Hopefully, never. I love that plane.
"Chicago has only ever had one a380 visitor. British airways."
Technically not quite true, as Emirates did fly a scheduled flight there in July 2016, but it wasn't a continuous thing.
Made my family fly ANA A380 HNL to NRT in 2019, shortly after it was released. HND is so much more convenient, but being in Hawaii it's probably my only chance i'd ever fly an A380. Looking for a way to fly an A350 now. Wish Hawaiian went with A350 instead of dreamliner.
agree 100%, A380 is a one of a kind plane, quiet, smooth nice, comfortable!
Only flew EK, LH, EY, SQ so far, but all were an AMAZING flying experience.
That'd require a minimum of two aircraft to maintain daily service, even if rotated with the European arrivals.
Doable of course, but they'd have to bring back two more, to add it while maintaining the current network schedule.
I didn’t know that.
I flew the a380 in biz once to lhr from Ord. Quite surreal staring at your seat mate from close quarters on takeoff.
Loved the ba 747 upper deck on return though. Bulkhead row was so spacious and private