Most of the airlines flying the Airbus A380 grounded their fleets during the Covid-19 pandemic, but thankfully many have now returned at least part of their superjumbo fleets to service.
One of the airlines which has not flown their A380s since the pandemic is Malaysia Airlines, which owned six of the aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines A380 History
Photo (c) Ray Jennings
Malaysia Airlines took delivery of their first Airbus A380, 9M-MNA, in May 2012. It was the first of six, which would be delivered over the next year.
These aircraft were painted in a non-standard livery at the time, with a mostly white fuselage and blue motif, compared to the regular Malaysia Airlines livery.
Malaysia’s A380s were all based at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and used on routes with the highest demand, such as to London Heathrow, Sydney, Paris CDG and Hong Kong.
Once the A380 fleet was grounded, Malaysia Airlines began to look for smaller, replacement aircraft which were more suited to their network and capacity needs. They settled on the Airbus A330neo and came to a deal with Airbus to part-exchange their A380s when ordering 20 A330-941s.
As a result, the airline sent all of their A380s to France for storage after a period in storage at Kuala Lumpur. They are now the property of Airbus.
Malaysia Airlines A380 Fleet and Status
9M-MNA (78), A380-841 – Now registered EI-HKA, stored Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, France
9M-MNB (81), A380-841 – Now registered EI-HKB, stored Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, France
9M-MNC (84), A380-841 – Now registered EI-HKC, stored Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, France
9M-MND (89), A380-841 – Now registered EI-HKD, stored Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, France
9M-MNE (94), A380-841 – Now registered EI-HKE, stored Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, France
9M-MNF (114), A380-841 – Now registered EI-HKF, stored Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees, France
With little market for second-hand A380s, the Malaysia Airlines fleet is unlikely to be sold on or even fly again. They will most likely be stripped of parts and scrapped in the coming years.
However, with the upstart new carrier Global Airlines having acquired some former Singapore Airlines A380s, there may still be a chance for them.
Did you fly on a Malaysia Airlines A380? Do you remember seeing them? Leave a comment below.
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2 comments
Yes I did fly on a Malaysia Airlines A380 from KUL to Syd and return
Malaysia A380 is very good flight. I has try once to Malaysia never forget this flight. very comfortable. I hope this A380 can from london flight again to Malaysia.