On September 3, 2021, Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 widebody was spotted heading back to Singapore, two days after it left Alice Springs (ASP) aircraft storage for a scheduled maintenance trip to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD).
Singapore Airlines Airbus A380, registered as 9V-SKY, performing flight SQ8896, took off from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and landed in Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), a home base of SIA’s Airbus A380 fleet.
“This movement is part of the ongoing management of our fleet, ensuring we remain nimble, flexible, and prepared to deploy capacity to markets as the demand warrants. The aircraft’s return to Singapore will allow for scheduled maintenance to be conducted,” the SIA spokesperson told AeroTime News on September 3, 2021.
Currently, the airline has a total of 19 Airbus A380 aircraft in its fleet with an average of 9.4 year old, the Planespotters.net data indicates. While the entire Singapore Airlines Super Jumbo fleet is currently parked, the operator seemingly has no plans to ground the entire Airbus A380 fleet for good just yet.
The flag-carrier of Singapore plans to retire seven of its Airbus A380 aircraft. However, the remaining 12 A380s would be kept in service and remodeled by the end of 2021.
Throughout 2021, Singapore Airlines Super Jumbo aircraft have been spotted several times, suggesting that the airline’s double-decker might be coming back to commercial service once the international air travel demand recovers.
However, on June 15, 2021, the SIA spokesperson told AeroTime News that: “We do not have any plans at this stage to return any of our A380 aircraft into commercial service, however we will continue to monitor travel demand closely and remain nimble to ensure the right aircraft can be deployed to the appropriate route as required.”
