Iberia ends A340 operations, BA starts B747 part-outs

Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas) has completed the phase-out of its only quadjet type, the A340-600. The Spanish airline said that flight IB6454 from Quito Int’l to Madrid Barajas, operated on August 1, 2020, by EC-JLE (msn 702), was its final scheduled A340 flight. Out of its total fleet of thirteen A340-600s, Iberia owns 12 and leases the remaining one, EC-INO (msn 431) from Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing. The carrier is replacing the outgoing A340s with A350-900s, of which it already operates nine and has a further 11 on firm order from Airbus. Meanwhile, fellow IAG International Airlines Group carrier British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) began retiring its thirty-one B747-400s on August 18, 2020, when G-CIVD (msn 27349) was ferried from London Heathrow to Castellón for part-out and scrap. In mid-July, the carrier announced that all of its Boeing quadjets will not return to active service and would be retired thereafter. However, the actual retirements only commenced recently. While most of the type’s scheduled flights ended in late March, British Airways has continued to operate the B747-400s on individual flights, mostly repatriation charters. According to Flightradar24 ADS-B data, the type’s last commercial flight for British Airways was on June 3-4 when G-CIVP (msn 28850) flew a repatriation charter from London Heathrow to Cape Town and return. BA owned all of its B747-400s. In terms of quadjet aircraft, the airline still has twelve A380-800s, although they remain parked for the time being.