British Airways’ A380s could return to skies

London: Lufthansa Technik announced that its Manila engineering base will continue to support British Airways’ fleet of 12 A380s. The contract has been extended for a minimum of five years and will see BA’s A380s being flown to the Philippines for maintenance.

Dave Exon, Technical Director, British Airways, said, “Safety is at the heart of everything we do and we are delighted to extend our existing A380 base maintenance contract with Lufthansa Technik as a result of the continued excellent standards of service provided by Lufthansa Technik Philippines.”

Elmar Lutter, CEO Lufthansa Technik Philippines, added, “We are proud to continue our good relationship with British Airways. We remain committed to servicing the A380 in the foreseeable future.”

With BA continuing to remove its A380s from storage in Madrid and bringing them to London Heathrow for maintenance tasks, it would appear that the super jumbo’s future remains secure in the fleet.

In mid-August, according to a Heathrow staffer, BA will be taking another of its A380s to London for checks.

Only three major European carriers ever operated the A380. Air France retired its fleet in 2020 even though some were relatively young in airline terms.

Lufthansa too retired its A380s last year. However, a glimmer of hope remains that A380s might be reactivated for service in the future.