Airbus's Doomed A380 Set for Expanded Role as Charter Workhorse

(Bloomberg) -- Airbus SE’s A380 superjumbo may be ending production in 2021 after lackluster airline sales, but the double-decker giant is proving more of a hit as a high-capacity workhorse in the holiday charter market.

Portuguese leasing specialist Hi Fly expects to acquire “a few” more used A380s after operating flights last summer with a lone plane that provided stop-gap services for Thomas Cook Group Plc, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and Air Austral, it told Bloomberg in an email.

Hi Fly became the first customer for a second-hand superjumbo after taking an aircraft returned by Singapore Airlines Ltd. to its owner, German asset manager Doric GmbH, following the end of its original lease. Another fund, Dr. Peters, owns four more jets returned by the Asian carrier, though two are being broken up for spares, and will receive three from Air France starting next year.

Hi Fly’s existing A380, provided complete with crew, continues to attract significant commercial interest and has a “busy season ahead” this summer, the company said. A decision on acquiring more planes will be taken after the completion of a full financial study, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Weiss in Frankfurt at rweiss5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Erhard Krasny at ekrasny@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, Andrew Noël

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