Qatar Airways is making final preparations for the return of the Airbus A380. The airline will 'reluctantly' bring the giant of the skies back for two routes from Wednesday, December 15th. The airline needs the capacity offered by the giants to account for A350s grounded due to ongoing issues related to paintwork.

Given Akbar Al Baker's continued criticism of the Airbus A380 during the pandemic, Qatar Airways seemed the most unlikely to bring Airbus' double-decker back to the skies. However, needs must, and five out of ten aircraft are expected to be reactivated and return to revenue flying for the Qatari flag carrier.

Three aircraft reactivated

According to flight data from RadarBox.com, Qatar Airways has so far reactivated three of its ten Airbus A380s, with a heavy focus on the carrier's younger jets. The three aircraft so far reactivated are (ages per data from ch-aviation.com),

• A7-APG - 5.51 years old
• A7-APH - 5.01 years old
• A7-API - 4.37 years old

Qatar Airways will need at least three Airbus A380s for the current flight schedule that it has filed to two destinations. When Qatar Airways revealed that it would be 'reluctantly' resuming A380 flights, it anticipated it would bring five of the ten aircraft back to service.

Sadly, for Airbus A380 fans, the news might not be as good as it seems at first glance. Qatar Airways has been clear that the type's return is purely to fill gaps left by the grounded Airbus A350 fleet. From December 15th, the jets will fly to Paris daily and London Heathrow twice daily. However, the plane won't stick around longer than needed. On the type's return, Group CEO Akbar Al Baker commented,

"This difficult decision... does not signify a permanent reintroduction of our A380 fleet, which were grounded in favour of more fuel-efficient, twin-engine aircraft at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic."

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Why is the Airbus A380 back at all?

If Qatar Airways is so reluctant to bring back the Airbus A380, an aircraft that Al Baker previously called the airline's biggest mistake, then why is it coming back at all? The reason is that around two-fifths of the airline's Airbus A350 fleet has been grounded by order of the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority.

The jets had been grounded after surface abnormalities were detected when an A350 was due to receive a special World Cup livery. While the problem was initially thought to be confined to Qatar Airways, it was recently revealed that many other carriers had also seen similar issues. Notably, Lufthansa flew its three oldest jets to be repainted under warranty in Toulouse earlier this year, despite the fact that the airline has its own facilities for painting aircraft.

Are you excited to see the return of the Qatar Airways Airbus A380? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!