Awakening a Sleeping Giant

By Hugo Pech

When the A380 was introduced by Airbus in October 2007, its was expected that the world’s largest passenger aircraft would be flying for decades to come. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

In 2019, Airbus announced it would stop production of the A380 due to the lack of sales. The outbreak of the Covid pandemic also contributed to the downfall of this colossal aircraft. Out of the 251 airframes built, 12 have been scrapped. Several airlines, including China Southern, have grounded their A380s.

China Southern retired its five A380s at Mohave Air and Space Port in California. Sadly, all of them were scheduled to be taken apart for spare parts. One of the five will never have the chance to fly again, as it has already been dismantled. However, at the start of 2024, a light of hope illuminated for the remaining four. Global Airlines, a startup airline from the U.K, purchased one of four, and has expressed interest in acquiring the three remaining aircraft.

In January, the China Southern A380 registration B-6140  changed to 9H-GLOBL, and a crew of maintenance technicians started the process to bring her back to life for the long journey to Europe.

By mid-February, the aircraft underwent a test flight. Unfortunately, the aircraft failed a landing gear test. The search to find jacks and a hangar to accommodate the gigantic aircraft began. In addition, the aircraft had a deadline to perform an inspection of the wings’ structure by the end of March.

Since none of the aircraft operators in America fly the A380, luck ran out to lift the aircraft onto jacks before the wing inspection deadline. Several calls were made to Airbus for guidance. Airbus responded that the only way possible for the long journey to Europe would be flying the enormous aircraft with the gear extended, at a lower altitude, and with airspeed restricted. Also, the aircraft would have to make refueling stops because of the higher consumption of gas due to increased drag. Fortunately, Airbus extended the deadline for the wing structure inspection to allow for the flight. The maintenance work continued to get the aircraft ready for departure on April 29. The original destination for 9H-GLOBL was Malta.

On the morning of April 29, a crew of three pilots and a maintenance engineer were at the aircraft to take 9H-GLOBL to its new home. The documentation of the maintenance ferry was submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the waiting game began. Departure time was scheduled for 14:00 local time, and the aircraft route was Mohave (MHV) to Boston (BOS) for refueling, then to Terceira Island (TER) in the Azores for additional refueling, and arrival in Malta (MLA) on April 30.  The 14:00 departure time came and went with no response from the FAA.  Hours later, the mission was scrapped for the day.

Early April 30, with FAA approval in hand, departure was set for that day. The new route was now departure from (MHV) Mohave to (YUL) Montreal for refueling, then continuing to Prestwick Airport (PIK) Glasgow Scotland.

As scheduled, 9H-GLOBL departed at 15:54 Pacific time (10:54 Zulu), flying at 27K and 375KTS with the gear down. The first leg of the long trek to YUL was made in 5 hours 41 minutes. After refuelling, the aircraft departed YUL for its final and most challenging leg of the journey, crossing the Atlantic with the gear down to (PIK) Prestwick, its temporary home.

Finally, after 7 hours 41 minutes, 9-HGLOBL broke into the Scotland skies to have a safe and smooth landing at Prestwick airport where it was the first time an aircraft of this size had landed. Several aviation enthusiasts were waiting to witness the arrival.

I send best wishes to Global Airlines to succeed in this new venture. It is fantastic to see a new cycle of life begin for the A380.  I am hoping to see the remaining three A-380s still resting in Mohave take to the skies as well. It is my understanding that Global Airlines will be the first airline in the world to use the A380 as the only aircraft in its fleet, providing service between Europe, New York, and Los Angeles.

I want to thank Brian DellAringa for inviting me to witness the revival of an aircraft that would have otherwise been scrapped.

A fantastic adventure!