Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY) is set to return its Airbus A380s to the skies, more than one year after the airline suspended its operations.
The carrier’s long-grounded Super Jumbo will fly as soon as November 18, 2021, with its first flight between Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and London Heathrow (LHR), the United Kingdom.
The service will come under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme, which was introduced by the Singaporean government in September 2021.
Historically, Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY) operated 24 Airbus A380s, according to Planespotters.net. However, in 2016, the airline announced that it would not extend the lease for its five Airbus A380 aircraft, leaving 19 Airbus A380s in its fleet.
Four years later, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY) had laid out plans to retire seven Airbus A380 aircraft, leaving only 12 of its double-deckers in its fleet. The move came after the airline’s international passenger traffic plunged by 97.9% in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the airline’s annual results report released in May 2021.