Lufthansa A380 fleet: last giant jet parked in Spain

Europe’s largest airline has ended the era of giant jumbos for the time being: the last Lufthansa A380 flew from Frankfurt to the Spanish airfield Teruel. The entire fleet is now mothballed there.

The last Lufthansa Airbus A380 touched down on the runway in Teruel punctually at 11.30 a.m. There he goes into what is known as “deep storage”: Sensitive devices are removed, windows and openings on the fuselage are masked – for long-term parking.

In Teruel, parking fees are lower than in Frankfurt, and the southern climate is considered to be gentle on the technology that has been shut down. All 14 Lufthansa A380 aircraft are now on the Spanish airfield. At the moment there are no plans for them to return to regular service. The demand for tickets is still lower than before the pandemic – Lufthansa therefore does not consider it economical to take off with aircraft that have a good 500 seats.

Already more than 140 machines parked

During the pandemic months, the Teruel airfield has developed into Europe’s largest parking area for aircraft that are not needed. That is the airport’s business model; there is no passenger or cargo traffic. More than 140 machines are currently parked there. In addition to its A380 fleet, Lufthansa has also parked several other long-haul aircraft at the Spanish airport.

But the first planes are leaving Teruel again: Last week British Airways picked up a plane from its A380 fleet. The company wants to send them back to regular service from London.