While there was never a considerable doubt that the Airbus A380 would return to the skies wearing the British Airways livery, it did come as a bit of a surprise when the airline announced the type's return late last year. Now, half of the airline's fleet is actively flying passengers, and only three remain in storage for the time being.

British Airways grounded its Airbus A380 fleet as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic became known. The fleet has moved several times throughout the pandemic, starting in France and then splitting between Madrid, Teruel, and Doha.

Which aircraft are active?

British Airways has 12 Airbus A380s ranging in consecutive registrations from G-XLEA to G-XLEL. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, six of these jets are now active, with all having undergone heavy maintenance in Manila since the start of the pandemic. This includes the airline's youngest and oldest A380s. The operational aircraft are (ages per ch-aviation.com),

  • G-XLEA - 9.24 years old
  • G-XLED - 8.52 years old
  • G-XLEF - 8.07 years old
  • G-XLEG - 7.79 years old
  • G-XLEI - 7.38 years old
  • G-XLEL - 5.58 years old
British Airways, Airbus A380, Chateauroux
Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying.

G-XLEF just returned from heavy maintenance in Manila this afternoon. It was flown back to London by the crew that took G-XLEJ out to Manila on Tuesday. British Airways is wasting no time in putting the aircraft back into service. The plane landed at Heathrow from Manila at 08:16 and took off for Frankfurt as BA904 at 13:54.

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G-XLEC flew out to the Manila Lufthansa Technik base this morning, passing G-XLEF flying in the other direction on its way. G-XLEC was the last of BA's A380s to leave the Teruel storage facility. The aircraft joins two other British Airways A380s in Manila. G-XLEB arrived on December 21st. The crew of G-XLEC will likely return with G-XLEB after they have had sufficient time to rest.

Just three planes left in storage

At the time of writing, just three of British Airways' Airbus A380s are left in storage as follows,

  • G-XLEE - Stored in Doha (DOH) since December 17th, 2020
  • G-XLEH - Stored in Madrid (MAD) since December 21st, 2021
  • G-XLEK - Stored in Madrid (MAD) since returning from Manila on January 5th, 2022
British Airways A380
Photo: British Airways.

British Airways' A380 network

Since its service return, British Airways has slowly expanded its Airbus A830 network. The airline's giant jet continues to fly to Frankfurt for crew training and cargo. According to schedule data from Cirium, has just three Airbus A380 destinations planned for the month (Frankfurt flights aren't scheduled with the Airbus A380). The giant of the skies is set to fly to Dubai (DXB), Johannesburg (JNB), and Miami (MIA) around once a day in the Chatham Dockyard livery. Flights to Washington (IAD), US, are currently set to resume with the start of the IATA Summer 2022 timetable.

Have you flown on the British Airways Airbus A380 since its return? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!