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By Vincent Valery

Introduction

Sep. 30, 2019, © Leeham News: It hasn't been an easy year for the Airbus A380 program since the end of production was announced in February.

Lufthansa announced in March that Airbus would buy back six A380s in 2022/2023 as part of a follow up order for 20 A350-900s. Air France intends to retire its Superjumbo fleet by 2022. Emirates retired two aircraft that were less than seven years old.

A number of factors are leading airlines to prematurely retire their A380s.

Summary

• Small MRO market increases maintenance costs;
• (Prohibitively) expensive cabin refurbishments;
• Operators struggling to operate profitably year-round;
• A lack of secondary market;
• No business case for engine PIPs.