Lufthansa Airbus A380 lands in Manila for heavy maintenance

A Lufthansa Airbus A380, registered as D-AIMK, flew to Manila, the Philippines, where it will undergo heavy maintenance before its scheduled return to service in the next few months.

It is the first of the airline’s double-deckers to be looked at by maintenance technicians, as the German carrier looks to restore some of its A380s for the upcoming summer season, beginning in March 2023.

According to Jens Ritter, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the carrier, the aircraft spent two months in Frankfurt, Germany, where it underwent initial maintenance following long-term storage. The double-deck jet was previously in storage at Teruel Airport (TEV), Spain between May 2020 and December 2022.

The A380 flew to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) in Manila on special flight number LH9922.

Furthermore, Ritter noted that Frankfurt-based technicians would soon welcome another Airbus A380, =D-AIMM (Mike-Mike). In a separate statement published on Twitter, Lufthansa Technik indicated that the A380 would undergo a C-Check at the company’s facilities in Manila.

More Lufthansa First Class capacity
The Airbus A380 is not the only aircraft Lufthansa is planning to return to service. Some Airbus A340-600s, which, in addition to the A380 and the Boeing 747-8, are some of the only Lufthansa aircraft with First Class seats, will also be brought back from storage.

Lufthansa plans to reactivate the aircraft sometime in Q2 2023. Much like with the superjumbo, the German airline is looking to bolster its summer capacity, as well as add more First Class seats to its network. Two Airbus A340-600s have already left TEV, with D-AIHZ currently undergoing maintenance in the Philippines, while D-AIHY has been in Munich, Germany, since arriving from MNL on December 14, 2022, according to flightradar24.com records.

In total, Lufthansa has 10 Airbus A340-600 and eight Airbus A380 aircraft, according to planespotters.net data.