Another airline is retiring the world's largest passenger plane after just under 3 years of service as the pandemic keeps long-haul flyers grounded. See inside Hi Fly's Airbus A380.
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Portuguese charter airline Hi Fly will be retiring its largest aircraft, the Airbus A380, after nearly three years of service.
Hi Fly operates the only secondhand A380 which it uses for recovery, repatriation, and medical supply flights under its wet-lease and charter purview.
The passenger cabin of the massive Airbus A380 had been hollowed out so the jet can carry more medical cargo to assist in humanitarian efforts related to COVID-19.
The world's largest passenger jet, the A380 in Hi Fly's configuration could seat nearly 500 passengers with amenities and features held over from its former owner, Singapore Airlines.
Portuguese charter airline Hi Fly will be retiring its sole Airbus A380 by the end of the year after nearly three years of service.
As the only dedicated charter operator of the A380 – the world's largest passenger plane complete with four engines and two full levels – Hi Fly was able to airlift over 400 people at a time, making the jet invaluable during evacuation or repatriation scenarios.
Its mission changed in March, though, with the start of the pandemic and the aircraft has been taking to the skies over the past few months to fly medical cargo as part of the global COVID-19 airlift.
While participating early in the pandemic flying a handful of evacuation flights from China, the A380 was briefly grounded before the outbreaks in Europe and North America for maintenance in Beja, Portugal. The aircraft quickly returned to the skies and completed a four-day trip literally around the world flying medical supplies in May.
Hi Fly even hollowed out the aircraft to make room for more cargo as the pandemic continued, making it the first cargo-configured Airbus A380. But Hi Fly won't be renewing the aircraft's lease, citing a lack of demand for travel due to the pandemic that it was helping fight.
The airline's past exploits with the A380 include assisting in the repatriation of British citizens when Thomas Cook Airlines collapsed leaving thousands trapped overseas and subbing in for Norwegian Long Haul's Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the New York-London route.
Take a look inside the massive soon-to-be-retired passenger-turned-cargo A380.
Hi Fly was the first secondhand operator of an A380, taking delivery of the superjumbo in 2018 after Singapore Airlines opted not to continue with the plane.
A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 aircraft.
Reuters
Instead of the standard white Hi Fly uses for its aircraft, the charter carrier opted to paint its new A380 in a special under-the-sea livery to spread a call to action: "save the coral reefs."
A Hi Fly Airbus A380.
VanderWolf Images / Shutterstock.com
When the A380 joined the fleet, it replaced Hi Fly's Airbus A340 as the largest of the airline's planes. While the A380 was in maintenance, the A340 was used to fly from Lisbon, Portugal to Shanghai, China to pick up medical supplies and personal protective equipment, Hi Fly told Business Insider.
A Hi Fly Airbus A340-300.
Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty
Before it was grounded for maintenance, the French government chartered the A380 twice to fly to deliver medical equipment to China and evacuate citizens from Wuhan, ground zero for the novel coronavirus.
As the world's largest passenger jet, the A380 is ideal for evacuation or repatriation flights as it has 471 seats across three cabins: economy, business, and first.
The lower level of the A380 holds the majority of the seats, with the economy class configured in a standard 3-4-3 configuration and a 12-seat first-class section in the first four rows.
As the aircraft was formerly operated by Singapore Airlines, known for its lavish amenities and onboard product, seats feature in-flight entertainment systems and in-seat power.
Hi Fly also maintained most of the Singapore Airlines look as seen with the stylish interior. Economy seats can also be found on the upper level, divided between economy and business to maximize capacity, and feature a generous 32 inches of legroom
First-class and economy class are on the lower level while business class and a small section of economy class can be found on the upper deck, a short trip up the stairs.
The A380 isn't for every mission, as Norwegian Air found when it used the aircraft to cover its New York-London route instead of its usual Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
A Norwegian Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty
Terminal 1 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport couldn't handle another A380, as it already sees multiple superjumbos from Lufthansa, Air France, and Korean Air. Delays were averaging four hours during the aircraft's tenure.
A Korean Air Airbus A380 at JFK Airport's Terminal 1.
Kate Taylor/Business Insider
When it comes to airlifting the greatest number of people home after being stranded, however, there is no better plane in terms of capacity and comfort than the A380. Airport permitting, of course.
An Airbus A380 aircraft.
Pascal Rossignol/Reuters
One of its first missions back involved flying from Tianjin, China to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to transport medical supplies to the island nation.
From its base in Beja, the A380 flew east to China and then continued east to the Dominican Republic and eventually back to Portugal, circumnavigating the globe in four days.
With the demand for cargo flights rising and not enough planes to carry the loads, Hi Fly decided to make more room for boxes with A380 now joining the growing number of airlines taking the seats out of their passenger planes to fly more freight.
The plans also allow Hi Fly to pack overhead storage compartments with boxes to maximize the load.
A Hi Fly Airbus A380 cargo conversion.
Hi Fly
All that new cargo space is in addition to the belly space underneath the aircraft where large pallets can be loaded using machinery. The rest of the boxes will need to be loaded and unloaded in the superjumbo jet by hand.
A Hi Fly Airbus A380 cargo conversion.
Hi Fly
But Hi Fly is now joining airlines around the world in retiring the A380, along with the Boeing 747, as there's no passenger demand for the aircraft.
Coupled with a lack of demand, airlines are also finding the jets too expensive to operate compared to smaller, more efficient models, forcing their exit from the skies earlier than expected.
An Airbus A380 landing in Los Angeles.
Thomas Pallini/Business Insider
