Etihad is all set to reactivate all four of its A380 placed in storage at the start of the pandemic. The airline made the announcement of returning the A380 jumbo aircraft towards the end of 2022 and since then the airline reactivated its first A380 in March 2023. The next A380 is all ready to return to its base in Abu Dhabi this week.
The aircraft took off from Teruel Airport in Spain to Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport in France where it is currently undergoing maintenance before returning to Abu Dhabi. The first A380 spent about a month at Tarbes before returning to its home base.
The aircraft is seven-and-a-half years of age, delivered to Etihad in 2016, powered by four Engine Alliance GP 7000 powerplants with 19,988 flight hours across 2,175 cycles.
The airline is planning to deploy the A380s on long-haul route from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow. The airline will ramp its capacity to triple daily A380 flights towards the end of 2023, up from double daily.
The first A380 service is expected to commence from July 15, 2023 and as more A380s are reactivated, the airline will start double daily service from August and triple daily from October 2023.