FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Lufthansa has reportedly sold six A380-800s at a lower than anticipated price after the aircraft suffered uninsured storm damage.


The deal stems from March 2019 when Airbus agreed to buy the six aircraft as part of a larger transaction involving Lufthansa purchasing twenty A350s. Initially, the A380-800s were scheduled to leave Lufthansa's fleet in 2022. While the original acquisition cost of the A380s remained undisclosed, Lufthansa's 2022 Annual Report, published two months ago, stated an agreed selling price of EUR 315 million (USD 340.9 million).

According to the report, "Six aircraft are to be returned to Airbus by November 2023." However, due to storm damage impacting five of the A380-800s, the selling price has been revised down by EUR 13 million (USD 14.08 million) to EUR 302 million (USD 327.01 million), a decrease of 4.13%. Lufthansa has described this as an "unscheduled change in value." The specifics of the damage were not detailed, but it was confirmed that insurance did not cover it.

Throughout its service, Lufthansa operated a total of fourteen A380-800s. Amid the pandemic, the airline opted to retire this model. However, a surge in post-pandemic travel coupled with new aircraft delivery delays have prompted Lufthansa to reactivate six of these planes until at least 2027. As six aircraft are slated to return to Airbus, the future of the remaining two remains unclear.

To date, Lufthansa has removed three A380-800s from storage, intending to have four operational by the end of the year and six airborne by the close of 2024. The bulk of Lufthansa's A380-800s are stored at Terceira, with an additional two located at Lourdes/Tarbes.