China Southern to retire A380s
In May last year, we reported that China Southern Airlines was due to conduct a review of its A380-operations and would base the future of the type in the fleet on the outcome of that report. Now, Chinese media are reporting that the airline has decided to retire its fleet of five A380s before the end of this year. Already when deciding on the review, China Southern Airlines said that operating the type was too costly as the aircraft was often too big.
The airline took delivery of its first A380 on 12 October 2011 and the last was welcomed on 28 February 2013. The status of the fleet is currently as follow:
- B-6136 (031) is parked at Guangzhou since 29 October 2021 after a flight from Los Angeles-International (CA)
- B-6137 (036) is parked at Guangzhou since 4 November 2021 after a flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle
- B-6138 (054) is active and was last flown to and from Los Angeles-International (CA) on 17 February
- B-6139 (088) is active and was last flown to and from Sydney on 20 February
- B-6140 (120) is active and was last flown to and from Los Angeles-International (CA) on 10 February
It's unclear where China Southern Airlines is going to park their five A380s when they are officially retired.
Photo by Anton Homma.