Etihad Airways has removed all A380 flights from its flight schedule until September 2021. Due to the Corona crisis, the Abu Dhabi based airline has no need for aircraft of that size for the time being.
“While Etihad continues to focus on recovering and rebuilding our global network, we will continue to rely on the efficiency and benefits of our twin-engined widebody aircraft,” a spokesperson said to Executive Traveler.
“During this period, Etihad’s ten Airbus A380s will remain on the ground until demand increases and there is sufficient interest to reassess their viability.”
It is quite possible that the A380s will not return to service at Etihad at all, CEO Tony Douglas recently indicated. “The question is whether they will ever fly again, but to be honest we haven’t made a decision on that yet.”
According to Douglas, it is a major disadvantage that the aircraft have four engines. “There are two too many, other aircraft can do their job much more efficiently and sustainably.”
But the CEO does not want to completely write off the A380: “It would break my heart to do that at this stage. But just as the 747s ended up being retired pretty much everywhere, I think we’ll see the same accelerated retirement with the global A380 fleet. ”