South Korea’s second largest carrier, Asiana Airlines, could return its fleet of Airbus A380s to the skies. The airline’s flight schedule suggests that Asiana’s Super Jumbos would fly as soon as late March 2022.
According to Asiana’s booking platform, the Airbus A380 will be returned on routes to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the United States, and Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Germany.
Currently, the airline has a total of six Airbus A380 aircraft in its fleet with an average age of 6.8 years old, according to Planespotters.net.
The airline’s A380s have been grounded ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The global health crisis took a heavy toll on the international travel market, leading many A380 operators to question the status of the double-decker and to single-handedly write-off the future of A380.
But this year proved to be unpredictable for Super Jumbo. A380 operators such as Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways had previously confirmed plans to permanently ground the A380s, but during the second half of 2021 they revealed that they would return these aircraft to service.
Other full-service carriers, such as Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY), British Airways, and Qantas, have already announced their Airbus A380 flight schedule.