newstodate.aero

Dec 19, 2022 (newstodate): Reports of the untimely "death" of the Airbus A380 aircraft were indeed exaggerated. As air traffic is rapidly picking up after the Covide-19 pandemic, several operators are returning at least part of their A380 fleet into service.
   This is also the case with its largest operator, Emirates.
   Speaking at the Skift Global Forum East in Dubai, the airline's COO confirms that the carrier's capacity has now recovered 80 percent of its pre-Covid traffic while its network has regained 95 percent of its pre-Covid volume, translating into a need for further and rapid growth of capacity.
   -Closer to the end of next year, that's our target to bring back all our A380s back to operation … and recover the remaining 20 per cent of the capacity, the COO told reporters.
   During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Emirates grounded most of its 16 Airbus A380 fleet, but as of today 85 of the aircraft are back in service while the remaining units will gradually join service after completion of maintenance and retrofit work - and inspection of recently discovered wing craks...
   A brief look down memory lane:    
In April 2000, Emirates announced an order for five Airbus A380 and two Airbus A380F.    
   The deal was confirmed on November 4, 2001, when Emirates announced orders for 15 more A380-800 aircraft, and an additional order for 21 A380-800s was placed two years later.    
   In April 2006, Emirates replaced its order for the two freighter variants with an order for two A380-800, and in 2007, Emirates ordered another batch of 15 A380-800, bringing the total ordered to 58.    
   In 2010, Emirates ordered an additional 32 A380, and on November 17, 2013, Emirates again placed an order for an additional 50 Airbus A380-800, bringing the overall order total to 140.
   The order was later scaled down to a total of 122 aircraft after Emirates in February 2019 reduced its last orders in favor of the A350 and the A330neo, causing Airbus to announce the end of  A380 production in 2021.