An Etihad Airbus A380 took to the skies yesterday ahead of the type's return to service planned for later this year. The seven-year-old A6-APG was ferried between two Tarmac Aerosave sites yesterday, a flight that took one hour and 37 minutes. A second Airbus A380 bound for Lufthansa is also set to leave the site this coming Friday.While it was somewhat of a surprise when Lufthansa revealed the return of its Airbus A380s, it wasn't such a surprise when Etihad revealed similar information. Throughout the A380s grounding, then Etihad CEO Tony Douglas always said, "never say never" when pressed on the type's return. Sure enough, the giant quadjet is set to return to the skies this summer, connecting Abu Dhabi to London.

Back in the skies

At 12:15 yesterday (one hour and 15 minutes later than planned), A6-APG took off from Teruel, heading north. The jet then looped anti-clockwise to the east before climbing to 24,000 feet and heading to Tarbes, another Tarmac Aerosave plant, touching down at 13:52. Interestingly, as opposed to flying direct, the aircraft appeared to hug the coast as much as possible and only make left-hand turns.

While unconfirmed, one would imagine the aircraft moving to Tarbes for additional maintenance before flying home to Abu Dhabi (AUH). Teruel cannot conduct an A380 gear swing test, meaning that A380s departing storage need to fly low and slow with their landing gear down. This wasn't a problem for Lufthansa as its main Frankfurt hub isn't far away. However, it wouldn't be a surprise if these conditions put Abu Dhabi out of reach non-stop.

A representative of Tarmac Aerosave, a major aircraft storage and maintenance firm, confirmed to Simple Flying that Tarbes does have the facilities to conduct a gear swing test on the Airbus A380. Simple Flying has also reached out to Etihad Airways to confirm the reason for the flight.

Two years grounded

According to data from FlightRadar24.com, A6-APG's last passenger flight took place on March 18th, 2020, operating EY100 from New York (JFK) to Abu Dhabi (AUH). This was just six days before the UAE government grounded all passenger flights to and from the country.

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A6-APG remained on the ground in Abu Dhabi (bar the occasional 20-minute flight to nowhere) until April 19th, 2021. It was then ferried to Teruel, an aircraft storage facility in Spain operated by Tarmac Aerosave. It landed here at 13:27 and was then placed into deep storage, unclear if it would ever fly again.

Three more are due to return

Etihad Airways expected to return four Airbus A380s to service this summer. The remaining aircraft are all in storage in Teruel or Tarbes. It's unclear which other three aircraft will join A6-APG in returning to the skies.

Are you excited to see the cogs beginning to turn regarding Etihad's Airbus A380 return? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!

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  Etihad Airways

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  EY/ETD

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Abu Dhabi International Airport

  Year Founded:

  2003

  CEO:

  Tony Douglas

  Country:

  United Arab Emirates