Owner Says They Are Unable To Find A Buyer For The Superjumbo Airplanes

Two A380 Superjumbo airliners owned by a German investment company are about to be stripped for parts, according to the owner, because Singapore Airlines has decided to not continue to keep them in service and no other operator can be found.

Reuters reports that the current owner is Dr Peters Group, based in Dortmund, Germany. The planes were leased by Singapore Airlines in December 2007 for a 10 year period. When that lease expired, the massive airplanes were returned to the owner. The were flown to Tavares in the French Pyrenees and stored while the group sought a new lessee. None could be found

In a statement emailed to the news service, Dr Peters Group said that "After extensive as well as intensive negotiations with various airlines such as British Airways, HiFly and IranAir, Dr Peters Group has decided to sell the aircraft components and will recommend this approach to its investors.”'

In other words, strip the airplanes down and sell off the parts.

The engines have already been removed and leased back to Rolls-Royce for use as spares, according to the report.

The group has two other A380s on lease in Singapore that may face the same fate, but these are early variants of the A380. Later models are more efficient and may continue to fly for some time.

However, overall demand for such large airplanes is declining. Airbus has slowed production of the A380 to a crawl while they look for new customers. Boeing's challenges with the 747 have also been well documented.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report