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Au revoir: Air France operates final A380 flight

Aviation Updates Philippines – On Friday, Air France bade goodbye to the Airbus A380 jumbojet with a special two-hour flight over France to mark the end of an era. 

Flight AF-380 departed from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for a flight exclusively for Air France executives, employees, and guests who worked on the Airbus A380 fleet over the years. F-HPJH, an eight-year-old A380-861, flew the final flight around France.


About a month ago, AUP reported about the French airline's plan to retire the nine-strong jumbojet fleet earlier as planned definitively. The Air France A380s should have two more years prior to its planned retirement; however, the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

Photos from the event showed great appreciation for the A380's service to Air France. While it may not seem very economical for the airline, the jumbojet surely has a special place for the airline. It will now join the ranks of Concorde, another legend, as part of Air France's history.



The Airbus A380 will eventually be replaced by the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350-900. As of writing, Air France operates a fleet of five Airbus A350 aircraft with 33 more on order. On the other hand, the airline has 10 Boeing 787 aircraft.

The jumbojet fleet worldwide is at the brink of retirement, at least not for gulf carrier Emirates. The A380 proved to be too large for today's aviation industry, making it highly inefficient to operate. While it may be an engineering masterpiece, the aircraft came in too late back in 2007.

Photo from @Pierre_Jbr, Twitter

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