Qatar Airways' oldest A380 is 11 years old

Qatar Airways has a fleet of eight Airbus A380 aircraft. The oldest active plane is A7-APC, which is currently 11.1 years old. It first flew in February 2014 and was delivered in December 2014. During the pandemic, it was in storage from April 2020 to June 2022, but has been flying regularly since then. The airline plans to keep its A380s for some time despite originally intending to retire them in early 2024. However, the exact timeline for their future remains uncertain. In total, Qatar Airways acquired ten A380s but currently has eight. Emirates Airline operates a much larger fleet of A380s, but has also retired some during the pandemic. Qatar Airways has two older A380s stored, A7-APA and A7-APB, which have not flown since April 2020. A7-APA, the oldest, first flew in September 2013 and was delivered in September 2014. A7-APB first flew in November 2013 and was also delivered in November 2014. Both planes are currently 11.7 and 11.3 years old, respectively. The reason for keeping the A380s longer is tied to delays with newer aircraft deliveries. Qatar Airways has ordered additional Airbus A350-1000s and Boeing 777X models, but these orders are delayed. CEO Akbar Al Baker expressed regret over purchasing the A380, stating it was one of the airline's biggest mistakes. Qatar plans to phase out the A380s once they receive their new, more efficient aircraft but continues to fly some A380s on select routes, including flights from Doha to Paris, Sydney, and Bangkok.