On February 23, 2021, British Airways Airbus A380 was spotted leaving Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) aircraft storage in Spain. The Airbus A380-841, registered as G-XLEF, landed in London Heathrow Airport (LHR), United Kingdom, later on that day.
While the real reasons for the move are unknown at the moment, the flight BA9179 sight prompted speculation that British Airways A380 might be returning to service to help cope with the sprung demand in the UK. However, another version of the speculation suggests simply a maintenance check.
Currently, British Airways has a total of 12 Airbus A380s in its fleet, according to Planespotters.net data. However, the airline’s all A380s were grounded amid the loss of demand that the air transport industry has been facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2020, most of the British Airways Airbus A380 aircraft were sent to Châteauroux Marcel Dassault Airport (CHR) in France for long-term storage. Later, the airline moved A380 aircraft to various storages across Europe and the Middle East, the Flightradar24.com data shows.
AeroTime News has reached out to British Airways for comment and did not receive a response at the time of publication.