Tarmac Aerosave's Teruel, Spain site has begun dismantling its 1st Airbus A380. The site became well known during the pandemic, with Air France, British Airways, Etihad, and Lufthansa all sending the giant of the skies to storage at the site.While British Airways has already retrieved its giant double-deckers, some Airbus A380s won't be leaving Teruel in one piece. Tarmac Aerosave has already scrapped several Airbus A380s from Singapore Airlines and Emirates at its other site in Tarbes, France. Now, the Spanish site is following in its footsteps by scrapping its 1st Airbus A380.

Teruel scrapping an Airbus A380

On Monday, Tarmac Aerosave tweeted that it had started to scrap an Airbus A380 in Teruel, Spain. The aircraft is the seventh to be scrapped by the company, with six having been scrapped in Tarbes. Other companies around the world have scrapped further A380s.

According to the company, the first thing to be removed from the aircraft was one of its sets of protective breathing equipment. It is expected to take until March to recycle the jet completely. The plane is being recycled for a customer called SETNAiO.

Which aircraft is being recycled?

Citing a confidentiality agreement, Tarmac Aerospace refused to reveal to Simple Flying which of the Airbus A380s in its care was being dismantled. However, we can take a good guess at which plane will shortly be no more, thanks to a few clues.

Firstly, an image in an article by the Spanish publication Heraldo shows an aircraft with SkyTeam logos on the front, ruling out Lufthansa (Star Alliance) and Etihad (no alliance). We can also rule out Etihad, as it has yet to decide on the future of its Airbus A380s.

Air France Airbus A380-861 F-HPJF
Photo: Vincenzo Pace - Simple Flying

Meanwhile, Air France has retired all of its Airbus A380s. Out of the entire fleet, two went to Teruel,

  • MSN 64 - Formerly F-HPJF and owned by Air France
  • MSN 67 - Formerly F-HPJG and owned by DS Aviation

According to data from ch-aviation.com, MSN 64 is already scheduled to be scrapped. Meanwhile, MSN 67 is still listed as available for Operating Lease or Sale, according to My Air Trade. This strongly suggests that MSN 64 is the aircraft being scrapped in Teruel.

About MSN 64

As mentioned above, MSN 64 was registered as F-HPJF during its time in service with Air France. The aircraft first flew on August 27th, 2010, and was delivered on June 17th, the following year.

During its time in service, the aircraft completed 37,771 flight hours (4.31 years) across 4,158 flight cycles. It had a four-class configuration featuring 516 passenger seats.

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.

FlightRadar24.com data shows that the aircraft's final passenger flight was on March 23rd, 2020, operating from Johannesburg to Paris Charles De Gaulle as AF 995. Its final flight, which took it to Teruel, was AF 360V on April 25th, lasting just one hour and 44 minutes.

What do you make of Tarmac Aerosave scrapping its first Airbus A380 in Teruel? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!

Sources: ch-avition.com, FlightRadar24.com, Heraldo, My Air Trade