http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/15/singapore Airlines Will Not Renew A380 Lease (commercial)

[BugsyPal]

Beginning of the end for the A380?


Singapore Airlines not extending lease on first A380 jet

[caverunner17]

No. Singapore is replacing the ones leaving the fleet with new A380s. The ones leaving are some of the oldest and most weight restricted around.

[PacoMartin]

QUOTE=caverunner17;45529423]No. Singapore is replacing the ones leaving the fleet with new A380s. The ones leaving are some of the oldest and most weight restricted around.[/quote]
Slight clarification. They are actually the first 5 to be delivered to any airline, as the 6th A380 went to Emirates.

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This story is really about two Airbus models, the A380 and the A340-500. Believe it or not, the A340-500 is actually the more disastrous program.

Singapore Airlines placed an order for 10 A380 aircraft on 29 September 2000 which was part Airbus's decision to begin the project. They chose to be the launch customer.

Meanwhile the A340-500 was introduced as the world's longest-range commercial airliner. It first flew on 11 February 2002, and was certified on 3 December 2002. Air Canada was supposed to be the launch customer, but filed for bankruptcy in January 2003, delaying delivery to March. This allowed early deliveries to the new launch customer, Emirates, allowing the carrier to launch nonstop service from Dubai to New York—its first route in the Americas. Singapore Airlines purchased 5 of these planes to begin nonstops to USA. This model proved to be a failure as it was too expensive to operate.

Only 34 were delivered in the entire world including 10 to Emirates and 5 to SIA. As of August 2016, there were 12 A340-500s left in service, but many as head of state aircraft and one is a Sands Casino VIP aircraft. The President for Life of Algeria has one. Qatar Amiri Flight (a VIP airline which caters exclusively to the royal family of Qatar and other VIP government staff) has one. Etihad Airlines has 3 left.

But as commercial aircraft the A340-500 was too expensive to operate. Emirates and Singapore Air both decided to get rid of them after 10 years. But the market for resale was thin so Airbus agreed to take back 8 from Emirates, and all 5 from SIA. One of the Emirates models was sold to a private individual and 1 of the SIA jets was sold to Sands Casino. The remaining 11 are still in storage at Aéroport de Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées in southern France where one spotter reported 27 A340's of different variants waiting to be dismantled.

In October 2012 SIA conceded that they were never going to make a profit on the nonstops to USA, and signed an agreement with Airbus to purchase 5 more A380s but it was tied to Airbus taking back the 5 A340-500s. SIA asked for delivery of the first of these 5 A380s around October 2017 starting when the first A380 to be delivered was 10 years old and at the end of it's lease.

So this decision to retire the first A380 was essentially made four-five years ago. The decision is just being announced today. They will replace the 5 old A380s with new ones.