Flag carrier Air France has sealed the fate of its Airbus A380 fleet as they decided to accelerate the plans of its phase-out. The airline said that they will retire the aircraft immediately instead of waiting for 2022, as previously planned.
As the coronavirus pandemic began, Air France grounded its A380s as early 16 March 2020, days before suspending its scheduled passenger flights. The airline, commercially known as Air France-KLM has announced the end to the flight operations of their Airbus A380 type equipment.
Originally, the airline planned in phasing-out their A380s over the next three (03) years, as they had begun withdrawing the planes from their active roster. The first Air France A380 entered storage at Ireland West airport near Knock last 20 February 2020 (being under the care of Eirtrade Aviation).
The airline has five (05) Airbus A380 aircraft in their current fleet that is owned by Air France or on finance lease, while four (04) more units are on operating lease. According to Air France-KLM, the impact of the A380 phase-out write-down is estimated to be at €500 million and will be booked in the second quarter of 2020. The A380 fleet of Air France-LKM is powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines.
It was reported that Air France-KLM was ordering another set of ten (10) Airbus A350-900s set to replace the A380s.