OWhether or not Lufthansa will retrieve some of its Airbus A380s from “deep storage” in Teruel, Spain, will not be decided until the beginning of July. After public deliberations by CEO Carsten Spohr in this matter, silence is prescribed. It is clear, however, that if this were to happen, this could only be an interim solution, because the switch from four-engine aircraft to more efficient long-haul aircraft with two engines is considered irreversible in the industry.
But this is exactly where Lufthansa, or rather Boeing, is having a problem at the moment, because the Americans are not getting the new 900 variant of their Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft ready for delivery. Lufthansa originally expected the wide-body aircraft this year, then CEO Spohr Stan Deal, head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, made a short visit to the Boeing 777-900 in Frankfurt at the end of last year and made the promise that it would be delivered in 2023. It is now certain that it will not happen before 2025.
Let the giant fly again
If, despite all the crises, the demand for flight tickets increases faster than recently expected, it could actually make sense for Lufthansa to let the giant fly again, at least temporarily. However, this also needs to be well thought out, because taking an airplane out of “deep storage” and sending it on its journey again is no small matter. Put fuel in and fly is not possible. In contrast to the parking of passenger aircraft, where aircraft are kept in a quasi-airworthy status for several weeks, in “deep storage” sensitive components are removed, all openings in the fuselage are sealed and the engines are fitted with protective covers.
In order to get an aircraft mothballed in this way ready for use again, a lot of work is necessary, which according to experts takes a good week or more. Whatever Lufthansa decides about the A380, aircraft of this type still do not pose a particular challenge for Frankfurt, because the airport’s structural adaptations to the flying giants, which began in 2003, are still in use. This also applies to passenger bridges, which can dock on one of the two decks of the aircraft at the same time.
Huge planes from the Emirates
The world’s first airport test of the A380, which took place in October 2005 in Frankfurt and not in the competing Paris, was also about checking in practice whether the around 550 passengers could get on the plane quickly enough before the flight and after landing again quickly enough. After all, being able to turn around quickly at the respective airport is also important for the profitable operation of an aircraft. This includes the entire procedure from getting on and off, loading and unloading, cleaning and refueling to leaving the parking position in the direction of the runway.
The hangar that Lufthansa built in the south of the airport area in order to be able to service the A380 fleet is still in use. In fact, it’s only half the yard that was completed in 2007. The second part, which was supposed to go into operation in 2015, was never built. The approval process would have taken far too long, it said at the time at Lufthansa.
The Magnum Airbus has never completely disappeared from Frankfurt Airport, even after the end of Lufthansa: Both Emirates from the United Arab Emirates, based in Dubai, and Singapore Airlines are still heading for the largest German airport with the huge aircraft. Until recently, British Airways A380s could also be seen in Frankfurt. According to the airport operator Fraport, however, these were training flights.
