Qatar Airways’ first Airbus A380 has taken to the skies again after being grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first A380, under flight number QR3254, carried out a 25 minute positioning flight from the old Doha International Airport (DIA) to the new Hamad International Airport (HIA) in the Qatari capital. The aircraft, registered A7-APG, took off at 0826 UTC on November 2, 2021.
“Our first A380 is officially back in the skies as we continue to grow the airline network and meet strong air travel demand,” Qatar Airways stated on social media.
The airline will be starting services with the A380 to London and Paris from December 15, 2021.
Excellent news; Qatar Airways is taking out their A380 out of storage. https://t.co/sAIwglRTTG#AvGeek #Avgeeks #A380 pic.twitter.com/BMmshxOBhN
— Jey (@jeyaganesh) November 2, 2021
Several airlines, including British Airways and Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY), are bringing some of their A380s back out of storage, as they ramp up long-haul flying thanks to easing border restrictions.
Along with citing increased travel demand, Qatar Airways is bringing some of its 10 A380s back because it needs to make up for lost A350 capacity. The airline’s A350 fleet is currently grounded over issues with the paint on the surface of the fuselage.
Qatar Airways grounded its A380 fleet back in March 2020.
Our first A380 is officially back in the skies as we continue to grow the airline network and meet strong air travel demand.
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) November 2, 2021
This positioning flight was from DIA to @HIAQatar with commercial services starting soon to #London and #Paris in mid December. pic.twitter.com/lyCn1QdOn8