As the Coronavirus takes grip on the world, airlines are struggling to fill the aircraft as passengers avoid travel through fear or official advice.
As a result, many airlines are choosing to park up parts of their fleets, reduce schedules, and even ask staff to take unpaid leave.
The giant Airbus A380 has a huge capacity and airlines which fly it are finding it hard to fill. Therefore various carriers are choosing to park these aircraft up for an extended period.
Korean Air
Korean Air has chosen to park its entire A380 fleet, as well as around 90 other aircraft in its fleet as the country copes with a large coronavirus outbreak and restrictions on travel to the country.
Aircraft are parked in Seoul.
Lufthansa
German national airline Lufthansa has also announced it will park its entire A380 fleet as a result of falling demand from passengers. Its superjumbos had reportedly been operating at only a 35 per cent capacity recently, leading to the decision. Smaller aircraft will operate some routes and many schedules have been cancelled.
Aircraft are parked at Frankfurt and Munich airports.
QANTAS
QANTAS meanwhile is reducing capacity drastically over the next six months. It will ground eight A380s, while two more undergo long-term maintenance and refurb. This leaves just two flying.
The airline’s flagship Syney-Singapore-London Heathrow A380 route will become Sydney-Perth-London Heathrow operated by Boeing 787 during this period.
Aircraft will likely be parked up at Sydney.
So far other A380 operators like Air France, ANA, Asiana, British Airways, China Southern, Thai, Singapore Airlines and the huge fleet of Emirates have not mentioned grounding the type. However, as the virus spreads it is likely we’ll see more.
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