Lufthansa’s final A380 arrives in Teruel for storage

Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) has waved goodbye to its last Airbus A380. 

The aircraft, registration D-AIMH, departed Frankfurt (FRA) in Germany at 09:30 CET on September 14, 2021, as flight LH9921. It landed two hours later in Teruel (TEV) in Spain at 11:30. 

One picture circulating on social media showed a banner draped by maintenance with the words “Goodbye sleeping beauty”. 

Even though the German airline still has 14 A380 aircraft as part of its fleet, Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) has confirmed its A380s will not be returning to service. 

“The A380 will not come back,” CEO Carsten Spohr said at the group’s second quarter results on August 5, 2021, explaining that the German airline group was using the pandemic to implement a major reorganisation for its long-haul fleet. 

As the pandemic grounded aircraft in 2020, Teruel in Spain’s Aragon region became the storage airport of choice for many operators. At over 1026 meters (3367 ft) above sea level and with a dry climate, the industrial airport describes itself as “perfect” for the storage of aircraft.