During the peak of COVID-19, airlines quickly retired their 4-engine aircraft, or put them into long-term storage without much chance to return. The demise of the A380s started even before that, with Airbus announcing the end of deliveries in 2019 (scheduled for 2021). Some airlines already started taking the superjumbos out of service, which was then accelerated by the pandemic.
However, as airports remain congested and slot-restricted, airlines started to reconsider their stance on larger aircraft. That left many airlines reactivating their Airbus A380s. In this article, we have a look at which routes will see A380 flights in the summer and winter schedules of 2025.
Table of contents
It is highly possible that airlines change their schedules and operating aircraft. We would especially not rely on airlines like Asiana and Korean Air, which are not only in the process of merging but have highly volatile A380 schedules.
British Airways
The British flag carrier reactivated all 12 of its Airbus A380s and put them on key routes with a focus on North America, in addition to flights to Dubai and Johannesburg. Their A380 strategy hasn’t changed significantly since 2023.
British Airways will only deploy the superjumbo to Boston and DC in the summer schedule. Similarly, flights to Dubai will only run in winter. While Singapore will only see A380 service until the end of May, Singapore Airlines and Qantas will continue to operate the London – Singapore route with the aircraft.
New & Disappearing routes
New: Boston, Singapore, Washington D.C.
Gone: Chicago and Dallas
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Emirates
If there is one airline that went all in on the superjumbos is Emirates. They found a great use for the giant aircraft, which kept the program alive for many years. They have almost 100 aircraft in active service (with approximately 20 parked), making it the largest A380 operator by a wide margin.
New & Disappearing routes
New (service resumption): Dubai-Barcelona, Copenhagen, Osaka, Nice, Prague & Vienna and Milan – New York
Gone: Dubai-Guangzhou and Beijing
Fifth freedom flights
The airline once again offers the Milan-New York route on the A380 with two other fifth freedom routes:
The Bangkok – Hong Kong route regularly offers well-priced first class tickets:
Etihad Airways
A private bedroom residence on a plane? Look no further, than Etihad. While there were concerns during the pandemic that we may lose this unparalleled product, the airline decided to reactivate its superjumbos. When we last reviewed this article, the only Etihad route was London. Since then, the airline expanded its offering to three continents, as six of its seven A380s are back in service.
The route to New York will only see the aircraft until June 23.
New routes
New: New York JFK, Paris CDG, Singapore and Toronto
Gone: –
Korean Air
The (old?) livery of the Korean SkyTeam member is definitely eye-catching. The logo is very often compared to a soft drink with very similar characteristics. When it comes to their fleet, they don’t limit themselves to the 747 in the four-engine category, but have a few A380s in their arsenal too. While previous plans wanted the plane gone from the combined Asiana-Korean fleet sometime before 2028, plans are currently on hold while Airbus and Boeing get their backlog in order.
The only stable route seems to be Los Angeles. The airline plans to deploy the A380 to New York only during the summer, while Hong Kong and Taipei will see A380 service until the end of August.
New & Disappearing routes
New: Hong Kong & Taipei
Gone: –
Lufthansa
After Lufthansa’s announcement of the A380s’ return, the airline started flying them to Boston and New York from Munich. Since then, the airline not only expanded its superjumbo offering but also confirmed its plans to keep these planes this decade, even installing its new business class product.
Similar to Korean Air, the only year-round service is Los Angeles (Delhi would be the second, but there is no service in most of October. Boston, Denver, New York and Washington D.C. will see A380 services in most of the summer. The airline will deploy the aircraft to Bangkok until April 26 and from the 2025 winter season.
New & Disappearing routes
New: Boston, Delhi, Denver, New York JFK, Washington D.C.
Gone: –
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
ANA is probably the odd one out of all A380 operators. It’s the type’s newest operator with fresh planes. The three A380s fly exclusively to Hawaii and are in the best A380 liveries (editor’s subjective opinion), especially since HiFly’s beautiful jets are gone.
Asiana
While the smaller Korean airline is awaiting its merger with Korean Air, it reactivated a few of its six A380s. However, they will share the same fate as their new owner’s superjumbos: be retired by 2026 unspecified date.
The airline joins its peers by only offering Los Angeles year-round. Bangkok and Tokyo will see A380s in the summer, while all the other routes are temporary
Temporary A380 Flights
The following flights will only run in a temporary period:
- Seoul – Barcelona: May 23 one-off service (there were also one-off flights for CES)
- Seoul – Rome: May 29 one-off service
- Seoul – Sydney: October 6 – December 31
- Seoul – Taipei: Summer Season except for July 16 – September 30
New & Disappearing routes (including temporary ones)
New: Barcelona, Rome, Taipei
Gone: Frankfurt
Qantas
During the pandemic, Qantas mulled getting rid of its superjumbos. However, as Australia faces both high travel demand, and low supply, it was only natural that the airline brought its giants back.
Most flights run in both summer and winter, except for the Melbourne – Singapore. This route is limited to two flights in May.
New & Disappearing routes
New: Melbourne – Singapore and Sydney – Dallas & Johannesburg
Gone: Sydney – Hong Kong
Qatar Airways
If there was one very unhappy customer for the A380, it would be Qatar Airways – according to a Simple Flying interview in 2022 (coincidentally the same time when the airline was in a battle with Airbus). Regardless of that, we can say that the superjumbo was mostly used for eco-heavy or cargo-heavy markets or for those that need a first class cabin onboard. This strategy hasn’t changed much since the airline reactivated the A380s.
From the same article, it looked like the airline will ground its A380s the moment 787 delivery delay stops. While the A350s (and a few Dreamliners) started arriving again, the airline still operates the giants and the A330s. The major change is that the airline will give up Perth in June and start serving Paris instead.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines – while downsized – didn’t retire its A380s, which means that you can enjoy this pretty good product for a while and on many routes. Unfortunately, the plane did not return to the Singapore – Frankfurt – New York route, which is now served by Boeing 777-300ER. Interestingly, Delhi and Mumbai will both have 1-month suspensions, while the airline is serving Shanghai during that time.
Temporary routes
The following routes will only see A380 service during a limited period of the winter schedule:
- Singapore – Shanghai: June 23 – Aug 31, 2025 and February 1, 2026, – March 28, 2026
- Singapore – Tokyo
NRT: May 1 – 31, 2025
New & Disappearing routes (including temporary ones)
New: Frankfurt
Gone: Auckland, Hong Kong, Melbourne
Other Carriers
Unfortunately, that seems to be it. China Southern’s planes sit in Mojave with a US owner. Malaysian A380s, withdrawn from use, take an extended sun bath in Southern France – and are not done getting tanned. While we were semi-optimistic regarding Thai Airways, the airline has since put these planes on auction.
However, a weird phenomenon called Global Airlines appeared. The “airline” apparently purchased four A380s including the ex-HiFly plane. However, their pitch deck (found and analysed by Paxex.aero) and subsequent (reportedly) interesting press conference, raise many questions and doubts. While they have partnered with HiFly, it’s not guaranteed that the airline will take off even after their 2024 2025 promise. Since our last revision in 2023, a plane arrived in the UK and just recently the founder posted “hi haters I told you so” post that it has been repainted from a China Southern to an awful Eurowhite livery.
Bottom Line
During the pandemic, airlines retired the bigger planes one after the other. While many airlines said that they are gone for good, many of them did give the planes a second chance. As capacity once again becomes an issue, airlines have to face a value proposition: is it worth paying the high maintenance fees and higher flying costs to increase capacity? Most of the previous operators thought so.
All in all, there are plenty of chances to fly the A380s in the 2025 summer schedule. However, the future doesn’t look as bright. These planes are getting older and operating them isn’t cheap. But only time will tell how long the Boeing 787 and 777X delivery delays will last, buying these – subjectively – beautiful behemoths some extra time.
Cover Picture: British Airways Airbus A380 G-XLEK approaching London Heathrow Airport | © Miklós Budai 2022
Comment (1)
Great article, thanks!
If I could ask for more, make it for 747 🙂