Qatar Airways Confirms the Return of Its Airbus A380 Superjumbos

From groundings and storage to complete scrappage, the much-loved Airbus A380, along with the Boeing 747, has taken the brunt of aircraft bad news over the course of the last 18 months or so.

It’s therefore with great pleasure that we bring you the news that Qatar Airways’ A380s will be coming out of retirement as of December 15, 2021.

Reasons We’re Excited

If you’ve already flown on an A380 — no matter whether you were flying up front or down the back — then you’ll likely agree that it was one of the comfiest, smoothest flights you have taken.

The humungous cabins offer space like no other. The aircraft’s size also means that the effects of turbulence are often reduced and on take-off, you barely notice the plane has even left the runway.

And for those who are partial to the more luxe side of flying, Qatar’s A380s are the only aircraft in its fleet to feature first class. With that, passengers will be able to fly the airline’s first class cabin once again.

While the A380’s herringbone business class seats aren’t quite in the same league as its famous Qsuite seats found on other aircraft, business class passengers will be once again able to enjoy the return of the bar.

Qatar A380s: A Victim of the Pandemic

Just when we thought we’d said goodbye to the Qatari whales, we’ll start seeing them in the skies again starting December 15, 2021.

To start with, just 5 of the Airbus superjumbos will be brought back into service. Depending on their success, the airline’s entire fleet of 10 could even be fully operational at some time in 2022.

All of Qatar’s A380s were grounded as the pandemic took its toll in March 2020. As the pandemic worsened, Qatar decided it would retire its 10-strong fleet of A380s for good.

However, due to issues the airline is having with its A350s, Qatar has gone back on its decision.

The A380 will make its return departing Doha (DOH) on flights QR3 and QR9 to London (LHR) and flight QR41 to Paris (CDG). The return flights are QR4 and QR6 from London and QR40 from Paris.

Final Thoughts

The return of Qatar’s A380s is great news for Qatar and Oneworld frequent flyers and AvGeeks alike.

It’s a shame that Qatar has skipped the U.S. and opted with European routes, but it makes sense given these are some of the airline’s core routes.

Who knows what the future may hold, but for now, you’ll have to head to Europe before being able to experience Qatar’s first class and A380.