Qatar Airways A380 returns

Speaking to executivetraveller.com, the CEO of Qatar Airways has said it will return the A380 to active duty in November. The airline is doing this to replace the capacity lost by the grounding of thirteen of its A350s as well as an increase of demand. Initially, the airline is set to reactivate five of its ten A380s but the whole fleet could fly again in 2022 depending on the development of market conditions.

Over the last year, the CEO of Qatar Airways has been quite bullish on the future of its A380s saying that the aircraft was one of the biggest mistakes of the airline as well as environmentally not the best aircraft. However, in the interview with the website, the CEO said the grounding of the A350s due to fuselage degradation wasn't foreseen and changed the situation in a dramatic way.

In the coming weeks, Qatar Airways will rehire its A380-pilots which were laid-off when the A380s were parked for an indefinite period. The pilots will need to train to regain their currency which also includes (empty) A380-flights. At the same time, Qatar has started the necessary steps to check and perform maintenance on the five A380s to return them to duty.

Photo by Qatar Airways.