Lufthansa announced its first post-pandemic Airbus A380 destination will be to the US. Here are the airlines that have resumed flying the plane since 2020.

The world's largest passenger plane is continuing to make its comeback as pandemic-era travel restrictions fade away.

Airbus' behemoth A380 stood out in a world deprived of air travelers early on in the pandemic. The ability to fly a huge number of passengers — over 600 people — in a single plane, which the A380 once represented, made it temporarily obsolete.

Airbus

But, as pent-up demand for international travel rages post-COVID, airlines that sent their A380s to storage are now dusting off the cobwebs and getting ready to connect people again.

Here's how the A380 is making a comeback after being mostly forgotten and abandoned during the pandemic.

Four-engine aircraft, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747, were among the most impacted during COVID-19.

Here's how the pandemic accelerated the demise of four-engine aircraft like the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.

Airlines no longer needed the amount of space that the aircraft offered — combined with the excessive cost of two additional engines when only two were needed.

The A380 also didn't have the benefit of having a second life in the air-cargo realm, as other airliners did, despite its size. Though, that didn't stop some carriers from using the A380 as a makeshift freighter.

Here's how one charter airline hollowed out an Airbus A380 for use as a cargo freighter.

Destined to fly passengers, some airlines started bringing back the A380 shortly after the onset of COVID-19, with others adding it back into their networks for the first time this year as demand continues to skyrocket.

Emirates, in its role as the world's largest Airbus A380 operator, was unsurprisingly one of the first airlines to restore the mammoth plane.

Dubai opened to international travelers in July 2020, ahead of most global tourist destinations, and Emirates responded by adding A380 flights to London and Paris the same month.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

Since then, the A380 has returned to many of the Emirates destinations it once served, including the US. The carrier also took delivery of its last-ever A380 during the pandemic, marking a huge milestone for the operator.

Emirates will receive the last Airbus A380 ever in November. Here's how the world's largest passenger plane went from revolutionary to reject in just a decade.

According to aviation data provider Cirium, the carrier resumed flights between Dubai and New York-JFK on June 21, 2021, followed by flights to Los Angeles, Washington DC, and San Francisco. Emirates' "fifth-freedom" flight between Milan and JFK started in December 2021.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi, I flew 19 hours on Emirates from Dubai to New York via Italy and wouldn't hesitate to do it again over the 14-hour non-stop flight

All of Emirates' A380 luxuries have also been restored, including caviar in first class and in-flight showers.

Meanwhile, Emirates' existing A380 fleet is being retrofitted with a new interior that includes enhancements to each cabin and the addition of a premium economy class.

The United Arab Emirates' second flag carrier, Etihad Airways, is also bringing back its A380 due to increased demand. Flights will resume in the summer of 2023, flying between Abu Dhabi and London.

Source: Etihad Airways

"We know this will be welcomed by our guests who love Etihad's incredible A380 and its award-winning cabins," company Antonoaldo Neves said in December 2022.

Source: Etihad Airways

In October 2021, All Nippon Airways (ANA) took delivery of its third and final A380 from Airbus's production line in Toulouse, France. The Japanese carrier initially planned to use the aircraft to fly solely between Tokyo and Honolulu before the pandemic hit.

Source: Airbus

After months of delays due to Japan's slow reopening, ANA finally relaunched the route on July 1, according to Cirium data.

Airbus

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

While ANA did not fly its A380 during the pandemic on regularly scheduled flights, it did operate "flights to nowhere" around Japan.

Airbus

Source: Simple Flying

Competing Asian carrier Singapore Airlines resumed A380 flights on November 4, 2021, after the launch of the "vaccinated travel lane" program that allowed inoculated visitors to skip quarantine upon arrival in Singapore.

Mike Fuchslocher/Shutterstock

I flew on Singapore's Airbus A380 for 12 hours in economy from Germany to Singapore. The seat was surprisingly amenity-heavy and made the long trek easy.

The first flight flew from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 160-nautical-mile journey was among the shortest to ever be flown by the A380 in a scheduled capacity.

Taylor Rains/Insider

Source: Cirium Diio Mi, I flew on Singapore's mammoth A380 in premium economy to Germany and the service was great, but the seat had one major flaw I couldn't overlook

In Europe, British Airways resumed flying the A380 on November 8, 2021, to Frankfurt, Germany, and Madrid from London as a means of getting flight crews reacclimated to the plane.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi, Simple Flying

After its initial European runs, British Airways expanded the A380 to overseas destinations, like Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Dubai, and Johannesburg, South Africa.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

Before resuming service, the iconic red, white, and blue A380s sat in storage around Europe and as far as the Middle East. In Doha, Qatar, for example, three British A380s sat idle on a taxiway at Hamad International Airport.

Here's what living in the passenger terminal for 48 hours was like.

Doha-based Qatar Airways was the second Middle Eastern carrier after Emirates to resume A380 operations after grounding the jets for over a year, flying the plane to Paris and London in December 2021.

HasanZaidi/Shutterstock.com

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

The largest aircraft in Qatar's fleet is the only one to feature a true first-class cabin. Smaller aircraft only feature business-class seats.

M101Studio/Shutterstock.com

Shortly after Qatar relaunched its A380, Australian airline Qantas announced the return of the double-decker in January 2022.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

According to Cirium, the plane flew between Sydney and Los Angles on January 11, 2022, followed by flights between Melbourne and Los Angeles on June 6 and Sydney and Singapore on June 21.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

Korean Air was another carrier to quickly return the A380, resuming limited flights of the jet in September 2020 to destinations in Japan and China. Nearly two years later, service to the US finally restarted in October with a flight from Seoul to New York JFK.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

But even as the carrier slowly returns the jet to its standard flying schedule, the A380's tenure in Korea is still set to expire in the next five years.

"The A380s will be leaving Korean Air's fleet within five years, and the Boeing 747-8i fleet will also follow suit within ten years," Walter Cho, Korean Air's chief executive officer, told FlightGlobal in August.

Source: FlightGlobal

Another South Korean carrier also still operates the A380 — Asiana Airlines.

The carrier, which is soon to be acquired by Korea Air, has a small fleet of superjumbos flying between Asia and Los Angeles. But, the airline plans to retire the jets within the next four years.

Source: ch-aviation

In 2021, German flag carrier Lufthansa shared Korean’s feelings towards the A380, and it was doubtful whether the airline would ever bring back the jet.

Source: Lufthansa

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in a second-quarter 2021 earnings call that the "A380 obviously will not come back."

Source: Lufthansa, Seeking Alpha

However, the carrier has since reversed its pandemic-era decision, saying in a June 2022 press release that booming demand and delayed deliveries of other jets prompted the decision.

Source: Lufthansa

After years on the ground, Lufthansa confirmed to Insider on Thursday that the A380's official return will be from Munich to Boston on June 1.

Source: FlightGlobal

The planes are being reactivated from "deep storage" in Spain in France, six of which have been sold and eight that remain available to the carrier.

Source: Lufthansa

There is one airline that never gave up on the A380, even during the worst of the pandemic — China Southern Airlines. The carrier only briefly grounded the jet from February 10 to March 24, 2020, per Cirium.

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

From Guangzhou, China, China Southern's A380 flew to global destinations such as Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo, Paris, London, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Angel DiBilio/Shutterstock.com

Source: Cirium Diio Mi

Unlike China Southern and Lufthansa, some carriers, including Air France, Malaysia Airlines, and Thai Airways, decided to stop flying the A380.

Airbus

Etihad is ditching its largest and swankiest jets including the popular Airbus A380 and Boeing 777

Air France quickly retired its A380 fleet in May 2020, early on in the pandemic, and now relies on more-efficient twin-engine aircraft, like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing 777, and Airbus A350-900XWB.

Source: Forbes