No American airlines ever went through with an order for the Airbus A380. It had seemed as though the closest that the giant of the skies came to the US N Register was from freighter orders later canceled by FedEx and UPS. Despite this, there are now two A380s on the US aircraft registry, though it seems that this won’t be the case for long.
In February, China Southern Airlines ferried two Airbus A380s out to Victorville (VCV) in the Mojave Desert. A couple of hours later, the two giant aircraft took off for a short hop across the desert to Mojave Air and Space Port, around 47 nautical miles as the crow flies. Both aircraft have since been re-registered in the United States. The aircraft likely stopped in Victorville to complete immigration and customs formalities as Mojave is not listed as a port of entry by CBP.
2 American Airbus A380s
April saw two Airbus A380s being registered in the United States of America. This is the first time that the giant of the skies has been registered in the country. Both jets came from China Southern Airlines. While China Southern was the only airline to continue operating the Airbus A380 throughout the pandemic, it seems as though the type’s time is now up.
Both of the two jets are around 11 years old. The first is the 11.17-year-old MSN 31, having first flown on March 3rd, 2011, according to data from ch-aviation.com. This aircraft was registered as B-6136 during its time with the Chinese carrier. Now registered as N291JM, the aircraft completed 26,983 flight hours (3.08 years) across 4,668 flight cycles.
The other aircraft, MSN 36, first flew on May 6th, 2011, making it 10.99 years old. It was registered as B-6137 and clocked 27,876 flight hours (3.18 years) across 4,595 flight cycles. This aircraft has now been registered as N296JM. Both aircraft seated 506 passengers while in service. This consisted of 428 economy seats, 70 business class seats, and eight first class seats.
What will happen to the jets?
Sadly, it seems as though it’s the end of the line for these jets. The re-registration in the United States appears to be more to do with the ownership of the aircraft than anything else. Ch-aviation reports that both jets are due to be scrapped, suggesting that they will never fly with the US registration.
Both aircraft are now listed as being owned by Jet Midwest. While Jet Midwest does offer aircraft for sale and lease, it currently has one Boeing 777-200ER listed. The company describes itself as follows,
Since 1997, we have acquired, disassembled, sold, and leased over 300 aircraft, including the Boeing 757, 767, Fokker F100, and MD80 series.
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Both jets will likely meet a similar fate to this Boeing 747. Photo: Vincenzo Pace – Simple Flying
Given the current market situation, it is incredibly unlikely that these A380s would find second hand homes. Right now there are at least four more Air France A380s listed for sale and lease, which haven’t found a home in over a year on the market.
Unfortunately for these planes, it seems as though they will be the latest to meet a fate so far experienced by very few jets. Being parted out and recycled.
How do you feel about US registered Airbus A380s being scrapped? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!
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