Summary

• Qantas operates the Airbus A380s with the highest flight hours, with VH-OQB leading the pack at 55,497 flight hours.
• Singapore Airlines and Emirates are also major operators of the A380, with Singapore Airlines' 9V-SKF and Emirates' A6-EDC accumulating significant flight hours.
• Several A380s have already been scrapped, including Singapore Airlines' 9V-SKG, which had the highest flight hours among the scrapped aircraft at 51,391.

Developed by the European planemaker in the late 80s to compete with the Boeing 747, Airbus launched the $10.7 billion A380 project in December 2000. The prototype of what was going to become the world's largest passenger jet was unveiled in Toulouse, France in January 2005. The aircraft then completed its first flight in April 2005 before obtaining its type certificate in December 2006.

While there was initially a great deal of excitement around the A380, the superjumbo has actually ended up being a bit of a white elephant. As airlines worldwide start to replace their four-engined Airbus A380s in favor of more fuel-efficient twin-engined jets, let's take a look and see which examples have amassed the most flight hours.

Qantas has the most-used examples

According to ch-aviation, the two Airbus A380s that had amassed the most flight hours at the time of the last measurement (September 30th, 2023) both fly for Australian flag carrier Qantas. The 15.6-year-old VH-OQB sits at the top of the pile, having racked up an impressive 55,497 flight hours across 4,930 cycles. Flightradar24 shows that it primarily flies from Sydney to London via Singapore.

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Not far behind this aircraft in the flight hours stakes is its 15.2-year-old classmate that bears the registration VH-OQD. This particular example of the quadjet, whose main destinations from Sydney are Los Angeles and Hong Kong, had racked up 54,448 hours across 4,803 flight cycles at the time of the last measurement.

Other carriers

Away from Qantas, the next most-used example of the Airbus A380 belongs to Singapore Airlines under the registration 9V-SKF. This particular superjumbo had 52,499 hours and 6,592 cycles on the clock when last measured, although Planespotters.net notes that it has been in storage in Singapore since March 2020.

Elsewhere in Asia, Dubai-based UAE flag carrier Emirates is known for being by far the largest user of the Airbus A380, thanks to its high-capacity hub and spoke operating model. Its most-used example of the double-decker quadjet is A6-EDC, which had amassed 48,753 flight cycles across 6,006 cycles when last measured.

Fellow Asian giant Korean Air currently has a 50:50 split in terms of its active and stored A380s, with the most-used example falling under the latter of these categories. Registered as HL-7614, this sky blue-liveried superjumbo is 12.9 years old, and clocked up 45,212 hours across 4,428 cycles before being stored.

The most-used European A380 belongs to German flag carrier Lufthansa, and bears the registration D-AIMA. Also now currently in storage, this 14.3-year-old quadjet had amassed 42,573 hours and 4,601 cycles when least measured.

Scrapped examples

With the Airbus A380 having not proven to be quite the hit with airlines that was initially hoped for, certain examples have sadly already been scrapped. Among these aircraft, the example that flew the most before meeting its fate at the hands of the cutter's touch was Singapore Airlines' 9V-SKG, with 51,391 hours across 6,540 cycles.

Two more units of the A380 exceeded the 50,000-hour mark before being scrapped, both of which were also ex-Singapore Airlines examples of the double-decker quadjet. Registered as 9V-SKI and 9V-SKH, these superjumbos amassed 50,638 hours across 6,403 cycles and 50,284 across 6,368 cycles, respectively.

Have you ever flown on an Airbus A380? If so, with which airline(s)? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.

• 

  Airbus

  Stock Code:

  AIR

  Date Founded:

  1970-12-18

  CEO:

  Guillaume Faury

  Headquarters Location:

  Toulouse, France

  Key Product Lines:

  Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380

  Business Type:

  Planemaker