The last Qantas A380 will return in 2026

Although Qantas fast-tracked the return of its first Airbus A380 in November 20121 as the global pandemic subsided and international travel resumed, the final double-decker jet is now not expected back until the first half of 2026.

It’s been a drawn-out recovery for the flagship of the Qantas fleet, prolonged by routine ‘heavy maintenance’ plus extensive work to upgrade the jets with new business class and premium economy seats plus a fresh take on the upper deck ‘premium lounge’.

During the pandemic shut-down, when the entire superjumbo fleet was grounded, then-CEO Alan Joyce said he hoped to “reactivate all of the A380s” by 2024 depending on how fast demand for international travel rebounded to 2019 levels.

But while demand surged, Qantas says it continued to suffer from the same supply chain delays and related issues as other airlines trying to bring back their fleets back to full strength.

Qantas now has seven A380s back in the skies, with another due back in January 2025.

In August 2024 and again in September 2024 Qantas forecast the return of the remaining two A380s “over the next 18 months” – a timeline spanning through to early 2026.

The airline has yet to fully share its upcoming A380 schedule beyond the jet returning to Sydney-Dallas Fort Worth from August 2025 – a route it flew exclusively from late 2014 until early 2020 – although this time around, the 16-hour trek will be shared with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

A breakdown from the US Department of Transportation indicates only 14% of passengers on that route fly direct between Sydney and Dallas Forth Worth, while 54% either start or end their journey outside of one of those cities, and 32% have an itinerary which stretches beyond both cities (such as the ‘foreign affairs shuttle’ of Canberra-Sydney-Dallas-Washington DC).

Also read: The secret Qantas Tier Accelerator status match