Qantas Airbus A380 aircraft have returned to the skies once again, almost two years after the carrier grounded its fleet of Super Jumbos.
Qantas’ Airbus A380 aircraft, registered as VH-OQB, formerly known as the ‘Hudson Fysh’, is preparing to take off from Sydney Kingsford Smyth Airport (SYD) and touch down at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the United States, at 9:40 PM STD on January 11, 2022.
The airline’s A380 will replace the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Sydney-Los Angeles service, marking its re-entry to commercial service.
In December 2021, Qantas revealed that it would be fast-tracking the return of the A380 from April to January 2022 due to staff shortages on international flights.
70 Boeing 787 flight crew members will be required to undertake two weeks of self-isolation after each international flight. Therefore, Qantas decided to switch the current daily 787 services between Sydney-Los Angeles to three weekly A380 flights and one weekly 787 flight instead.
Currently, Qantas has a fleet of 12 Airbus A380 aircraft with an average age of 12.4 years old, according to Planespotters.net.