Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380 Ferried to French Aircraft Storage
A Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380 took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday, operating its first international flight since March 2020. However, the aircraft was not full of passengers and cargo. Instead, it was being ferried to Tarbes Airport in France for servicing.
The last passenger flight of an Airbus A380 was seen back in 2016.
Rebidding the aircraft would offer a chance to offset some of the losses incurred by the airline. A reassessment will also provide an opportunity to develop new revenue streams and retain customers.
Heading to France
Today, 9M-MNC took off from Kuala Lumpur Airport with a filled fuel tank. According to Flight Radar 24, the aircraft was due to take flight at 07:30, but its departure was delayed until 09:11. The lightly loaded airliner climbed to 38,000 feet in the air before continuing on at 40,000 feet.
After an epic journey of just about 13 hours and a time-traveling commute through the air, the aircraft was grounded in Tabes (LDE), France, around 15:15, roughly 90 minutes later than originally intended.
About 9N-MNC
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The Airbus A380 aircraft is equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines and a three-class cabin with 486 seats. The economy, business class, and first class cabins all have 412 seats each. To date, the aircraft has racked up 26,131 hours in the sky, 1 passenger trip every 2.98 years — which converts to $37.64 million in total value. It’s unlikely that it will find another owner any time soon since Malaysian airlines keep it in operation once every three months at least.
What makes Tarbes different?
Tarbes Airport is located in the Occitanie region in southwestern France, home to a modest number of scheduled flights from several short-haul carriers including Ryanair. It also has a large aircraft storage and scrapping facility at the same location, managed by Tarmac Aerosave.
The site in Tarbes is already home to a variety of Airbus A380s. According to data from ch-aviation.com, 19 aircraft have ended up at Tarbes, of which five are confirmed to have been scrapped so far. These include examples from Air France, Emirates, Etihad, Hi Fly, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and now Malaysia Airlines. While 9M-MNC could be stored here upon its arrival in France, its outlook certainly looks bleak.
vince salvador
November 26th, 2022
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