Singapore Airlines will inspect four Airbus A380s following proposed airworthiness directives published July 5 by Airbus and EASA. The AD calls for detailed checks for cracks on the A380 wing outer rear spars, from the 25 oldest wing sets, and requires detailed inspections of the affected areas, using phased-array ultrasonic testing methods for the external wing box and ultrasonic testing methods for the internal wing box. “We are aware of the proposed AD from EASA regarding the inspection of outer rear spars of the wings of some A380 aircraft. Four of our A380s will require inspections,” a SIA spokesperson said. “The safety of our customers and crew is of utmost priority, and we will ensure that we are in full compliance with the inspection requirements. At this point, we are unable to share details on how long the inspection will take.” SIA is the world’s first operator of the very large aircraft and it is likely that four oldest of the 19 A380s in the carrier’s fleet are affected, aged 8.9 years to 10.47 years. Most of these A380s fly the Singapore-Frankfurt-New York route, as well as Singapore-Beijing, London and Paris service.<br/>
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Lufthansa will base two additional Airbus A380s at its Munich hub from 2020. The move will boost the Munich-based A380 fleet to seven aircraft and will evenly split the total fleet between Munich and Frankfurt, the airline’s main hub. In Munich, the two additional aircraft are to be operated on daily roundtrips to San Francisco and Boston, the airline said July 9. Lufthansa currently flies the aircraft from Munich to Los Angeles, Beijing and Hong Kong. From November the aircraft will serve Miami, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Until 2017, all 14 A380s were based in Frankfurt, but for a variety of reasons—capacity constraints in Frankfurt, the airline’s long-standing dispute with the airport operator over fees and growth in Munch—Lufthansa decided to base an initial five A380s in Munich two years ago. The experiment has worked out, CEO Carsten Spohr said recently. Even more aircraft could follow, as the airline said seven aircraft would remain in Frankfurt “initially.” However, Lufthansa is looking at reducing its A380 fleet significantly. As part of its order for 20 more A350-900s placed earlier this year, the airline agreed to return six A380s to Airbus in 2022 and 2023. It has not decided from which hub the aircraft will be pulled. <br/>
ANA continues to upgrade its widebody fleet as the Japanese carrier recently took delivery of two Airbus A380, Boeing 787-10 and 777F aircraft for international passenger and freight services. ANA’s first 787-10 entered service April 26 on its Tokyo Narita-Singapore route. The second -10 was delivered at the end of June and began operating the Narita-Bangkok route this month. The third 787-10 is scheduled for delivery in 2020. The carrier already operates a substantial fleet of 787-8s and -9s. ANA in March received the first of three A380s, which entered service in May. The second arrived May 15 and began operations June 18. These aircraft are both being used on Narita-Honolulu flights. The A380s now handle 10 of 14 weekly frequencies on that route. The other four frequencies are currently operated by 787-9s but will be replaced with Boeing 777-300ERs from Aug. 1. Meanwhile, ANA’s freight operation has been boosted by the arrival of Boeing 777Fs. <br/>