Qantas is retiring its A380s. Is it time to say goodbye to the superjumbo?

It’s enormous. It’s adored by fans. It’s clearly long past its prime. And it’s had more comebacks than Elvis. But, as Australia’s national airline Qantas prepares to retire its entire fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos, with the comfort and luxury of their full double-decker cabins, has the world’s largest passenger airplane finally had its day? The airline said in August that it will begin retiring its 10 A380s in 2028, or four years earlier than originally scheduled, due to rising maintenance and fuel costs — a concern often echoed by other carriers still operating the gigantic aircraft. Qantas’s A380 decision is the latest nail in the coffin for the superjumbo jet. Only 171 remain in service today, down from the global fleet’s peak of more than 230 planes in the late 2010s, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. Airbus stopped making them in 2021 after orders dried up.