Qantas Will Accelerate Retirement of A380 Superjumbos… World’s Biggest Passenger Jet Will Disappear From Airline’s Fleet From 2028

The Australian flag carrier Qantas has moved up the retirement of its fleet of ten Airbus A380 superjumbos, with the world’s largest passenger jet set to start leaving the airline’s fleet from 2028 – four years earlier than originally planned.

While the double-deck aircraft had not only been “critical” to the airline’s post-pandemic recovery, and had helped capture displaced passenger demand from carriers in the Middle East because of the conflict with Iran, Qantas said on Thursday that soaring maintenance costs had accelerated its retirement plans for the A380.

Qantas originally planned to start retiring its A380 fleet in 2032, replacing the quad-engined gas guzzlers with much more fuel-efficient Airbus A350-1000s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The plans were based on when Qantas realistically envisaged getting its hands on new planes that would fill this massive hole in its capacity.

Given that aviation supply chains have been under constant pressure since the pandemic, and long delivery delays at both Boeing and Airbus have increasingly frustrated airlines, it probably wasn’t unrealistic for Qantas to assume a longer timeline than it had been promised for some of its new jets.

However, the airline says it now has “confidence” in the delivery timeline for both new A350-1000 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft, allowing it to pencil in the A380’s demise earlier than planned.

The retirement of the massive A380s will result in a small drop in capacity across the Qantas fleet, but the airline actually sees this as an advantage, saying its new aircraft will drive earnings growth with a higher premium cabin mix across its fleet.

As part of its future fleet planning, Qantas also confirmed that it was in talks with Airbus and Boeing to exercise purchase rights for up to 20 additional new aircraft. Any planes converted into firm orders will start to be delivered from 2030 onwards.

The first of Qantas’ Project Sunrise A350-1000ULR is slated for delivery in April 2027. The first of these aircraft is currently undergoing extensive flight testing before it can be formally handed over to the airline.

Qantas has a total of 12 of the Project Sunrise ULR variant on order, alongside 12 standard A350s. The airline is also expected to take delivery of 12 additional Boeing 787 Dreamliners from 2028, which will feature a new Business Class suite with sliding privacy doors.