British Airways Stores Away its A380 Fleet in Madrid

  • UK's flag-carrier British Airways has decided to move part of its Airbus A380 fleet for storage to Madrid due to a fall in large-scale passenger demand amidst the second COVID wave.
14 Nov, 2020

As cases rise in the UK, flag-carrier British Airways has decided to move part of its Airbus A380 fleet for storage in Madrid.

With low demand for large-scale passenger travel since March, it will now be a while yet until the British Airways' A380s return to regular service. The International Air Transport Association also explains that global air traffic might not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

It is definitely a difficult time for the air travel industry, especially with the second wave now disrupting countries across the world. Many other carriers like the Qantas are also moving their planes to storage to cope with this change in passenger travel demand.

According to [reports][1], most of British Airways A380 fleet has been hibernating at Chateauroux in France for the last few months, while only coming back to the UK for maintenance.

It may also be possible that a number of A320s will be leaving the fleet - either to be scrapped or sold.

The carrier has still not revealed how many of its A380s will move to the storage in Madrid. Although, the reason for this move remains undisclosed, it is possible that maintenance might be easier through IAG partner airline Iberia in Madrid, or the parking costs for storage might be more affordable.

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