Qatar Airways is one of ten airlines with scheduled flights on the Airbus A380. The
oneworld member has eight superjumbos, each with 517 seats. Two other frames have been withdrawn from use and will not fly again.
Due to the war in Iran, all the carrier’s double-deckers are currently grounded. The original plan was for them to return to service on June 1, but that has been pushed back to June 16. Whether flights resume then remains to be seen.
The Airline’s Number One Destination That’s No Longer Served
Qatar Airways was a relatively late user of the Airbus A380. According to ch-aviation, the first frame was delivered in September 2014, which was seven years after the launch customer,
Singapore Airlines, received its initial example.
Cirium Diio data was used to explore Qatar Airways’ double-decker network from September 2014 to May 2026. The schedules were then compared to what is planned from June 2026 onward, i.e., from when the type is scheduled to return to service. The information reflects what is known as of May 20 and may change. This process revealed the places to which the A380 is no longer deployed.
With 1,543 departures from
Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH), Perth International Airport (PER) was the number-one destination to previously see Qatar Airways’ superjumbos. The capital of Western Australia did so daily between May 2018 until March 2020, and then again from December 2022 until June 2025. For the remainder of 2026, the 354-seat 777-300ER and occasionally the 293-seat A350-900 will be deployed.
The A380’s removal coincided with Virgin Australia flying from PER to DOH for the first time. It uses the Australian half the traffic rights between the two nations. Existing entirely to feed partner Qatar Airways, Virgin deploys Boeing 777-300ERs and crew leased from the Gulf carrier. It was a way for Qatar Airways to grow its presence Down Under. Due to the war, Virgin’s flights to DOH are due to resume in September, which is later than for some of its other Australia-DOH routes.
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These Two Routes Also Had Over 1,000 Departures
Schedule analysis indicates that Qatar Airways had 1,153 departures on the A380 from DOH to Guangzhou and 1,004 to Melbourne Airport (MEL). Guangzhou has nearly 20 million people in the metro population and 40 million residents in the Pearl River Delta.
The Chinese city saw the type daily between July 2016 and January 2020. In 2026, only Emirates continues to use the A380 there, while China Southern and Korean Air did so in the past. Qatar Airways now deploys the economy-heavy, 412-seat 777-300ER to Guangzhou, which has more freight capacity than the A380.
MEL was part of Qatar Airways’ superjumbo network between July 2017 and March 2020, when a daily service existed. Unsurprisingly, the schedule, shown below, was designed to maximize two-way connectivity to reach many cities in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. When the A380 was last used, booking data shows that the top ten markets were London, Athens, Beirut, Rome, Dublin, Paris, Istanbul, Manchester, Barcelona, and Berlin. The 777-300ER is flown now by both Qatar Airways and partner Virgin.
|
Frequency |
DOH To MEL; Local Times* |
MEL To DOH; Local Times** |
|---|---|---|
|
Daily |
8:20 PM-6:15 PM+1 |
10:20 PM-5:15 AM+1 |
|
* In March 2020 |
** In March 2020 |

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These Two Routes Saw The A380 Briefly (Or Just Once)
Qatar Airways had 364 departures from DOH to
Frankfurt Airport (FRA). Germany’s busiest airport was on the carrier’s A380 map between March 2019 and March 2020, when a daily service was available. Five other A380 users no longer fly the type to FRA: Asiana, British Airways (briefly), Korean Air, Lufthansa, and Thai Airways (all its frames have been retired).
Then there is
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which is the world’s busiest airport for passenger traffic but not for flights. Qatar Airways only had one A380-operated flight from DOH to ATL, which was nearly exactly a decade ago. On June 1, 2016, the type was deployed to Georgia to celebrate the then-new route. Since then, the 777-200LR, 777-300ER, A350-900, and A350-1000 have been used.









