Hi Fly, a Portugal-based Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance (ACMI) operator, will say farewell to its Airbus A380 on its final flight HFM380.
The only A380 to be operated on the second-hand market by the ACMI airline will be permanently retired following the Super Jumbo’s final flight from Beja International Airport (BYJ) in Portugal to Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS). In order to commemorate the occasion, Hi Fly will ferry the aircraft to its final resting place under the flight code HFM380, which is scheduled to depart the Portuguese airport at 10:30 AM (UTC +0) on December 17, 2020.
The aircraft, registered as 9H-MIP, joined Hi Fly’s fleet in July 2018, after serving Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY) since March 2008. Painted in a special “Save the Coral Reefs” livery, the double-decker was quite the hit ever since the Portuguese ACMI operator announced that it would acquire the Airbus A380 following its withdrawal from Singapore Airlines’ (SIA1) (SINGY) fleet. It then became the first-ever and still the only Super Jumbo to switch hands during its active service life.
Hi Fly highlighted that its double-decker landed in over 53 airports in 33 different countries and four different countries, including the fact that it was the first A380 to be converted to a Preighter (a passenger aircraft carrying cargo onboard) during the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, Hi Fly stated that 9H-MIP was the first Super Jumbo to land in Wuhan, China, following the coronavirus outbreak.
Most recently, the aircraft saw little activity. In October 2020, Hi Fly’s A380 operated only three flights, with zero commercial flights the following month. In December 2020, it flew between Seoul, South Korea, Shanghai, China and Hamburg, Germany. Its final commercial flight landed on December 15, 2020, as the double-decker returned from Hamburg Airport (HAM) to Beja International Airport (BYJ), Portugal.
