For many passengers, the Airbus A380 double-deck “SuperJumbo” is the best way to fly. Yet only 251 have been built – one-sixth of the number of Boeing 747s – and production ended in 2021.
Yet with post-pandemic passenger demand relentlessly strong, as we make up for lost sunshine and adventures, the world’s airlines are chasing extra capacity. At the same time, some carriers – including Air France and Malaysia Airlines – have permanently retired their A380 fleets. (You can find a handful of these once-mighty planes at Lourdes airport in southwest France, Europe’s main aviation graveyard.)
