Fans of the A380 will be pleased to hear today’s development.
Lufthansa Technik tweeted the news that its Manila engineering base will continue to support British Airways’ fleet of 12 A380s.
The contract has been extended for a minimum of five years and will see BA’s A380s being flown to the Philippines for maintenance.
Exciting news: @British_Airways has extended the base maintenance services contract for the @Airbus #A380 with us. Our colleagues in Manila are ready to continue supporting the airline's 12 A380s for more than five years, starting in August 2022. https://t.co/vdT5dX1ozj pic.twitter.com/W4jhj7Wixx
— Lufthansa Technik (@LHTechnik) August 4, 2021
Dave Exon, technical director of British Airways, commented:
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do and we’re delighted to extend our existing A380 base maintenance contract with Lufthansa Technik as a result of the continued excellent standards of service provided by Lufthansa Technik Philippines.”
CEO of Lufthansa Technik Philippines, Elmar Lutter, added:
“We are proud to continue our good relationship with British Airways. We remain committed to servicing the A380 in the foreseeable future.”
With BA continuing to remove its A380s from storage in Madrid and bringing them to London Heathrow for maintenance tasks, it would appear that the super jumbo’s future remains secure in the fleet.
Next week, according to this Heathrow staffer, BA will be taking another of its A380s to London for checks.
British Airways Airbus A380-841 G-XLEH will depart from Madrid to Heathrow next week. See details below.
10.08.2021
BA9171E A388 G-XLEH 1500 MAD – LHRReason – Maintenance checks
Last minute changes remain likely
Photo Credit 📷 – Bianca Renz pic.twitter.com/WHnSvJ4tEl
— M Zulqarnain B (@MZulqarnainBut1) August 4, 2021
Only three major European carriers ever operated the A380. Sadly Air France retired its fleet last year even though some were relatively young in airline terms.
Lufthansa also retired its A380s last year. However there is a glimmer of hope that they might be reactivated for service in the future as we reported last month.
The A380 has great passenger appeal. Airlines praise the A380 although some grumble about its operating costs. In this short clip Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker refers to the A380’s high cost of maintenance:
There is no escaping the fact that the super jumbo does not have the operating costs of a twin aircraft like the B777-300ER. In aviation it is the bottom line which counts.
