Germany’s Lufthansa said Monday that it plans to put some of its Airbus A380 superjumbo jets back into service next year after mothballing the aircraft at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Lufthansa said it is currently assessing how many A380s will be reactivated and where they will fly. It expects to use them again from summer 2023, and said the decision was made “in response to the steep rise in customer demand and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft.” The airline announced in September 2020 that it was taking its A380s out of service as demand for air travel remained stubbornly low. The company said Monday that six of its 14 A380s, which are parked in Spain and France for “deep storage,” have been sold and the other eight remain part of its fleet “for the time being.” Lufthansa said it expects “a much more reliable air transport system worldwide” next summer.<br/>
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Lufthansa plans to fly the Airbus A380 again from summer 2023, it said on Monday, joining other carriers to announce a comeback for the superjumbo. Lufthansa said the move is in response to a rise in demand and delays in aircraft orders, adding that it has yet to decide on destinations and how many of planes to put back in the sky. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the demise of the world's largest jets, but the European double-decker is gaining a new lease of life as airlines scramble to cope with rising demand and shortages of newer models.<br/>
SAS is bracing for a potential cockpit crew strike across its three main operating states within days. The airline has been negotiating with various parties to secure support for its ‘SAS Forward’ restructuring plan. SAS says industrial action by pilots – about which it has received notification from unions in Sweden, Denmark and Norway – would have a “substantial impact” on its schedule. Mediation is underway, it states, but a failure to reach agreement could result in a strike from 29 June. With capacity in demand, alternative services will be “highly limited”, the carrier adds. “Not all SAS flights will be impacted,” it says, but passengers will be able to check which services are affected ahead of time. SAS says it is offering passengers travelling from 27 June to 3 July the option to rebook for a later date, free of charge, within a year. “The potential strike is causing high pressure on SAS’s customer service and the waiting time is longer than usual,” the carrier states, directing passengers to self-service options rather than phone lines. “To be able to support customers impacted by a potential strike, SAS is strengthening customer service and call-centres for rebooking where possible.<br/>