Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3094370/south-koreas-asiana-airlines-flies-empty-a380-superjumboSoutheast Asia
South Korea’s Asiana Airlines flies empty A380 superjumbo, just to keep pilots certified
- The empty Airbus A380 flew for three days so pilots could practice taking off and landing, until the airline could no longer afford to keep the jet skyborne
- It is a problem faced by other carriers who don’t have training simulators and need their pilots to keep up their skills or lose their licenses
The nose of an Airbus A380 is seen outside the factory of Stelia Aerospace, a subsidiary of Airbus, in France. Photo: Reuters
Airlines are taking extreme measures to survive the coronavirus pandemic, with South Korea’s Asiana Airlines flying the world’s biggest commercial plane more than 20 times, going nowhere and carrying no passengers, just to keep trainee pilots certified.
Keeping their crews flight ready is one of the challenges carriers face as they grapple with the unprecedented crisis that has seen more than one-third of the world’s fleet grounded.