Qatar Airways: Airbus A380 completes 120 flights in 21 days

At Airbus in Hamburg Finkenwerder, the end of production of the A380 is one step closer. On the second of December Complete the penultimate super jumbo ever built It was probably his last test flight before delivery to Emirates Airlines. In a similar way The last A380 is scheduled to arrive in December It is delivered to the airline in Hamburg.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is preparing to restart its A380s, 4,655 kilometers away as the crow flies. It is true that airline president Akbar al-Baker has repeatedly criticized the giant and announced it as well Five out of ten A380s never took off again for Qatar Airways. Still, the airline Use the A380 again from December 15th. Then the giant giant flies from Doha to London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Approximately six trips per day on average

After the long break due to the pandemic, not only do planes have to be ready to take off again. The cockpit crew also has to train in the A380 again. And that’s what’s been happening since mid-November with superjumbo with registration number A7-APG.

A380 with registration A7-APG. BILD: Qatar Airways

The five-and-a-half-year-old A380 is currently operating continuously in Doha. In 21 days from November 12 to December 2, he completed 120 flights. That’s an average of nearly six take-offs and six landings per day. The journeys lasted between 26 and 47 minutes. They were always coming out of the airport through the Persian Gulf, making a circle there, and then coming back.

Second A380 begins training

Numerous take-offs and landings show that these are training flights. Pilots do not need long stages at cruising altitude in order to get back fit again for use in a model, but above all they must train for take-off and landing.

Recently, two more A380s of Qatar Airways were in the air. The A7-APH only completed a half-hour flight on November 24 – this should have been a technical test. The A7-API also flew briefly on November 13, then took a break and appears to have been on the road as a second training aircraft since December 1. On this day alone, the Airbus A380 completed eight short flights.

Have more than five A380s returned?

It is no longer established, as it was announced, that five A380s will not fly for Qatar Airways again. Because of Lots of Airbus A350s on the ground The airline recently announced that “at least” five of its 10 A380 aircraft will temporarily restart.