Singapore A380 departs Alice Springs boneyard

A Singapore Airlines A380 left the Alice Springs ‘boneyard’ on Monday morning to be fitted with a new cabin allowing it to eventually return to service. The Airbus A380-841, 9V-SKQ msn 079, departed Alice Springs at 10:03 AM and as flight SQ8896 and landed in Sydney at 3:07 PM, where it will undergo checks following it being ‘thawed out’ from its spell in the desert. The carrier, the launch customer for the double-decker, is set to retire seven of its A380 but crucially keep 12 in service. It comes despite speculation the aircraft is nearing the end of its time in the skies, globally. “Singapore Airlines can confirm that one of our Airbus A380 aircraft that was stored in Alice Springs has begun its planned return to Singapore ahead of a schedule retro-fitting and maintenance programme,” said the business. “The aircraft, registration 9V-SKQ, has been moved to Sydney to undergo routine checks following its storage, before returning to Singapore where it will be retro-fitted as part of our plan to have all 12 remaining A380 in our fleet fitted with the latest A380 cabin product.”<br/>