Yep. The day’s unfortunately here. The end of the A380 is approaching with Airbus announcing the end of the production line earlier this year and this:
TARMAC Aerosave has scrapped and dismantled its first A380
The French company began dismantling its first A380 earlier this year and completed the process a few days ago.
They will be able to recycle 90% of the A380’s mass, meaning spare parts can be sold on the market.
TARMAC Aerosave already has a second A380 in the scrapping process.
These two A380s formerly belonged to Singapore Airlines (9V-SKA & 9V-SKB)
(Bottom 2 images by Eurospot/@cliper31 on Twitter)
Video:
Sad to see these go. While the A380 will still remain in some fleets for another decade or so (Emirates will retire theirs in the 2030s), other airlines will be retiring theirs or sent to to be scrapped.
RIP. What a shame. This should count as a lesson to aircraft manufacturers, though: sometimes, sacrificing efficiency for capacity just doesn’t work out. It’s only been 11 years.
I flew LHR to SIN on a Singapore A380 back in 2010 wish I’d kept a record of the reg now :/
Was a nice airplane to fly on, flew on the upper deck out and the lower deck on the return to experience both decks.
The a380 wasn’t a very good aircraft, it was not useful for airlines to have it because it was not profitable.
It’s a shame it is being scrapped but it was not a very beautiful airplane.
They simply returned them back to the lessor. If they can get better lease rates on newer aircraft or for the same price per say a more fuel efficient A380 then it’s a no brainer.
Think of it like you hiring a car, you can end the car hire and get something else nice for less money or an upgrade.
I never really liked this plane, and I never saw huge potential in it. This moment was inevitable from the start of the A380 program. Nevertheless, this aircraft will go down in history as the largest passenger aircraft to date.
