Qantas Plans to Continue Operating Airbus A380s Until the 2030s

Qantas will operate its fleet of 10 Airbus A380 aircraft for at least the upcoming decade, flying them at least until the 2030s, according to its chief executive.

According to a report by FlightGlobal, Alan Joyce, the current CEO of Qantas, said the airline will keep the 10 aircraft for at least the next decade. All aircraft of the type will be operational by 2024, Joyce added, which is slightly earlier than previously expected.

Qantas currently flies seven aircraft of the type, with one currently under maintenance and two stored at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), according to ch-aviation.com data. Qantas previously announced that the A380 currently in maintenance will join the carrier’s network by the end of the year, with the Australian airline significantly expanding its international network starting October 2023.

Qantas also previously said that demand for maintenance for the Airbus A380s was delaying its plans to return the aircraft, with limited slots at Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) organizations “impacting return-to-service of remaining A380s through to early 2025”.

The Australian carrier will also begin to look at which aircraft will replace its aging Airbus A330s, with the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) Vanessa Hudson telling FlightGlobal in a separate interview that Qantas will decide on which aircraft will replace the A330s by the end of 2023.

Hudson will replace Joyce as the CEO of Qantas Group in November 2023.