Qatar Airways' Airbus A380s will return to the skies tomorrow with flights planned to London Heathrow and Paris Charles De Gaulle. The airline is 'reluctantly' bringing the jets back but has made it clear that the A380s will only hang around as long as they are needed. With this in mind, we thought we'd look at which airports the Qatari flag carrier has flown to with the giant of the skies.Qatar Airways took delivery of its first Airbus A380 back in 2014, meaning that its entire fleet is relatively young. However, earlier this year, the airline's CEO Akbar Al Baker told Simple Flying that the jet was the airline's biggest mistake.According to schedule data from aviation data experts, Cirium, for flights up until the aircraft was grounded last year, Qatar Airways has flown the Airbus A380 to nine airports, excluding its Doha hub in the last seven years. The carrier has operated just over 13,000 rotations to date. (Note: This data is based on schedules and doesn't take into account flights canceled at short notice)
Heathrow takes the top spot
According to Cirium, Qatar Airways has scheduled 3,671 flights to London Heathrow since the type was introduced to the airline's fleet. The airport was actually home to the airline's inaugural A380 service, and it comes as no surprise.
Except for Emirates's A380 mega hub in Dubai, London Heathrow has been the top airport for A380 operations since the type's launch, handling A380s from more carriers than any other airline. This is a crown that the airport will retake with the relaunch of Qatar Airways A380 flights. In 2016, 10% of London Heathrow's passengers arrived or departed on an Airbus A380.
Two more airports with 2,000+ flights
Cirium's data shows that two more airports have seen over 2,000 Airbus A380 rotations from Qatar Airways. Taking the number two spot is Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. Alongside London Heathrow Airport, Qatar Airways will also be relaunching flights to the French capital city's main airport tomorrow. With flights first scheduled for November 2014, Qatar Airways has operated 2,757 rotations to the city of light.
The other destination that has seen more than 2,000 Airbus A380 rotations from the Qatari flag carrier is a little more surprising. Bangkok in Thailand was the third destination to see the giant of the skies, with Qatar Airways launching flights in December 2014. To date, it has seen 2,148 rotations scheduled with the massive double-decker.
Australia was a crucial country
Sydney clocks in as the fourth most visited airport by the Qatar Airways Airbus A380. The airline operated its first flight to Sydney Airport on September 15th, 2016. Since then, the airline has flown the giant of the skies to the Australian aviation capital 1,294 times.
Interestingly, Australia has grown to be a key market for the A380 in recent years. Melbourne has seen 1,004 Airbus A380 services, while Perth has welcomed the giant 611 times. This means that Australia has received a total of 2,909 scheduled Airbus A380 rotations since Qatar started taking delivery of the giant. If the country were a single destination, it would rank second only to London Heathrow.
What about China and Germany?
Just two more airports have received significant Airbus A380 services from Qatar Airways. One of these is China's Guanzhou which also acts as a base for China Southerns' giant jets. The airport has welcomed 1,153 Qatar Airways A380 flights, along with 63 from Korean Airlines, 1,232 from Emirates, and 9,502 from China Southern. This makes the airport the 16th busiest for A380 services from all carriers to date.
That just leaves the German aviation capital, Frankfurt. The airport ranks as the 5th busiest Airbus A380 airport overall, sitting just behind Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. However, with eight airlines making up its 32,593 flights, Qatar Airways is just a drop in the ocean here. The Doha-based carrier has operated just 364 flights to Frankfurt with the giant jet, equivalent to roughly a year.
Aren't you forgetting a flight?
That's not the whole story, though. One more Qatar Airways Airbus A380 destination seems to have created more drama with just a single flight than all the others combined. In 2016, Qatar Airways wanted to celebrate the launch of its new Atlanta route with its flagship aircraft of the time.
For one rotation only, the airline sent the giant of the skies to the United States on June 1st, 2016. Unfortunately, the arrival was anything other than smooth. Atlanta Airport only has a single gate capable of handling the giant of the skies, which at the time was occupied by Delta Air Lines.
At the time, Delta Air Lines and Qatar Airways weren't on the best of terms, with a public feud ongoing between the two that eventually led all the way to President Trump in the Oval Office. In a CNN report from the time, Delta and Atlanta blamed short notice of the A380's arrival for not accommodating the jet, despite plans for its arrival being published at least a month in advance.
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In the end, all 517 passengers onboard the double-decker jet had to deplane onto the ramp at a bus gate, a process that took 45 minutes. The A380's return flight was delayed by around two hours due to this process.
In June 2021, the airline used the Airbus A350 for its first flight to the city since the start of the pandemic. While this didn't create issues at the airport, the A350 has become a whole different issue for the Qatari flag carrier since.
Have you flown on the Qatar Airways Airbus A380? Let us know where you flew and when in the comments!