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Etihad Airways has brought another one of its previously dormant Airbus A380s out of long-term storage in France. The superjumbo in question is currently on its way back to the United Arab Emirates after more than five years in exile, having already spent the best part of a year on the ground in Abu Dhabi.
It was the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 that served as the catalyst for Etihad Airways’ Airbus A380 storage, and the UAE flag carrier was far from the only airline to put its operations of the superjumbo on ice as the scale of the global health crisis became clear. Now, however, air travel’s strong and sustained post-pandemic rebound has paved the way for carriers such as Etihad to bring their A380s back into action.
Back In The Skies
As flagged by Flightradar24 on X earlier today, an Etihad Airways Airbus A380 that bears the registration A6-APC took off from Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport (LDE) in southwestern France this morning. Tracking data from the site shows that the 11-year-old double-decker quadjet got airborne at 9:32 am local time, and it is currently in the sky en route to Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), which serves as Etihad’s hub.
At the time of writing, the aircraft was expected to touch down at 6:38 pm. Activity for this jet has been few and far between in recent years, with tracking data made available by Flightradar24 indicating that its only other relatively recent flights were a pair of ‘unknown’ test jaunts in August 2023 and December 2025. Per Planespotters.net, the aircraft wears an ‘ADNOC – Choose the United Kingdom’ livery. Majed Al Marzouqi, Chief Operations and Guest Officer at Etihad, told Simple Flying last year:
“We have 10 A380s. Out of the 10 today, seven of them are operational, and we are activating numbers eight and nine next year. We’re going to have nine aircraft, and the tenth will be used for parts.”
Six Years Of Storage
It has been almost six years since A6-APC was last used by 
Etihad Airways to operate regularly scheduled revenue-earning passenger flights. Until today, it had been in long-term storage in one form or another since March 24, 2020, with its initial withdrawal coming less than five years after its delivery to the UAE flag carrier back in May of 2015. From March 24 to December 16, 2020, it was stored at Etihad’s home base in Abu Dhabi.
This ensured that, should air travel have rebounded quicker and stronger in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the aircraft would already have been close at hand for a smooth reactivation and re-entry into service. As it turned out, however, the impacts of the global health crisis were felt for several years in the commercial aviation industry, and, with no end in sight to the A380’s operational hiatus at Etihad, A6-APC was moved to France.
Indeed, on December 16, 2020, it was ferried to Tarbes, where it remained in exile until today. This facility is one of several that became somewhat synonymous with the storage of grounded Airbus A380 jets during the early 2020s, with its 3,000-meter (9,843-feet) runway meaning that it could handle large quadjets. This is despite the fact that its regular commercial airline services use narrowbody twinjets (Ryanair 737s and Volotea A320s).
5 Things You’ll Only Find In The Residence Suite On Etihad’s Airbus A380
With three rooms for one passenger, the Residence feels like its own world.
Another Luxurious Quadjet Returns From Exile
As it happens, A6-APC wasn’t the only one of Etihad Airways’ Airbus A380s to be stored in Tarbes amid the onset of the global health crisis at the start of 2020. Indeed, there were several others that had much shorter French exiles, such as A6-APG, which left the facility in March 2023 having also spent time in Teruel, Spain. Two months later, in May of 2023, A6-APH became the second Etihad A380 to emerge from its exile in Tarbes.
Etihad’s A380s are considered to be amongst the most luxurious examples of the double-decker quadjet. While its lower deck consists entirely of economy seats, with space for 405 guests, aeroLOPA notes that the top deck has space for 70 business class and nine first class guests in luxurious suites. The front of the upper deck also features the legendary ‘Residence,’ a three-room space offering the most opulent experience in the skies.
