The list of A380-800 operators got smaller this week with China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) decommissioning its final two aircraft of the type and ferrying them to Mojave. China Southern has progressively exited its five A380s from its fleet throughout 2022, leaving just eight active operators of the iconic aircraft.
B-6139 (msn 88) departed Guangzhou Baiyun on December 21, 2022, for the ferry flight to the Mojave Air and Space Port/Rutan Field via Victorville. B-6140 (msn 120) also exited the China Southern fleet the same day, making the same trip to California. B-6137 (msn 36) and B-61636 (msn 31) both landed at Mojave on February 24 while B-6138 (msn 54) arrived at Mojave on December 2. This week's departures mark the end of an 11-year era for the A380-800 at China Southern Airlines, which was the only Chinese airline to take the aircraft type. China Southern deployed the aircraft to North America, Europe, and Australia and notably, maintained some A380 services throughout the pandemic.
According to ch-aviation fleets data, Airbus has manufactured 254 A380-800s, with Emirates the primary customer. Other airlines now flying at least some of their A380 fleet include Singapore Airlines, Qantas, ANA - All Nippon Airways, Qatar Airways, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and British Airways. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways recently said that it would reactivate four of its ten A380-800s during the 2023 summer to operate on the Abu Dhabi International - London Heathrow route while Lufthansa has confirmed that it is returning "four or five" of its fourteen A380s to service over the same summer.
China Southern Airlines now joins Air France, Malaysia Airlines, and Thai Airways International in having decided to permanently exit the A380-800 from their fleets. Across the remaining operators, 127 A380-800s are currently flying scheduled passenger ops, while 112 are in various states of storage, and 15 have been scrapped. Airbus stopped manufacturing the A380 in 2021.
