British Airways is sending a number of its A380s to Madrid to be stored, as the UK entered its second total lockdown and placed a ban on all non-essential overseas travel.
The first to be transferred to Madrid was six-year-old G-XLEF, msn 151, which departed from London as BA9175 at 10:24am local time on Wednesday.
G-XLEF landed at Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain just under two hours later at 1:22pm local time.
Prior to being stored, the aircraft performed its last passenger flight as BA286 between San Francisco and London on 26 March 2020.
Meanwhile, a second A380, G-XLEG, is due to depart from London bound for Madrid on Thursday.
It performed its most recent commercial flight as BA54 from Johannesburg to London on 4 June 2020. This route has since been covered by a Boeing 777.
While the decision to place these superjumbos into longer-term storage has caused concern for an early retirement, a BA spokesperson said earlier that there were still currently “no plans” to do so.
Currently, the UK’s lockdown is set until 2 December, with the potential for an extension should COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations not relent.
As such, it is unlikely that British Airways’ A380s will take to the skies again until at least early-to-mid 2021.
All 12 of the British flag-carrier’s superjumbos have essentially been grounded since March 2020, when demand for long-haul international plummeted to unprecedented lows.
Since then, most of its A380s have been ferried between France’s Chateauroux Centre Marcel Dassault Airport for storage, and London Heathrow for ongoing maintenance.
Prior to COVID-19, the 469-seat superjumbo performed regular services to seven major North American cities, as well as Johannesburg, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Additionally, prior to the pandemic, British Airways had plans to upgrade its A380s beginning in 2023, to include the latest business class Club Suites. It is unclear if these plans will be scrapped, or delayed.
Earlier this month, British Airways’ parent company IAG said it intended to only operated at around 30 per cent of its pre-COVID capacity in the current quarter, however this figure is likely to take a deeper dive as Europe continues to grapple with new outbreaks and border closures.
