An entire fleet of Airbus A380s has been sitting stagnant on tarmac for years now and this is why
Published on Feb 20, 2026 at 7:10 AM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Feb 19, 2026 at 9:11 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
This fleet of Airbus A380s has been sitting stagnant on the tarmac for years, and now we know why.
Thai Airways ordered six Airbus A380-800s back, which were delivered between 2012 and 2013.
These planes were flying across the world to locations as far-flung as Frankfurt, London, and Paris.
Since 2020, these planes have been grounded at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport – but why?
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Why have these Airbus A380s been sitting on the tarmac for years?
If you find yourself taking off from Thailand’s Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, you might see a fleet of Airbus A380s sitting out on the tarmac.
Let’s just say, these planes don’t look like they’re ready for takeoff.
They’re lined up in a neat line, and for good reason – they’ve not flown for six years.
One user shared a photo of the jets to the aviation subreddit, writing: “Always sad seeing the stagnant Thai A380 fleet just sitting there.”
Other Redditors piled in to share their views.
“A lot of money sitting there depreciating,” one commented.
So how exactly had this all come to be?
Back in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic grounded the planes, as you might have expected.
But things didn’t resume the following year or even the year after.
In fact, they still haven’t resumed normal activity in 2026 – a staggering six years later.
Plans to revive the fleet were abandoned in 2022 due to escalating operating costs.
In 2023, reports circulated that these planes were going to be sold off.
But it turns out that selling a whole bunch of planes is a complicated matter, particularly when said purchase would require the buyer to ferry them elsewhere or dismantle them on-site.
That’s not forgetting the fact that any interested airline would have to do substantial work to make these planes airworthy again.
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It’s always sad to see abandoned planes
Planes should be in the air, but too many of them are grounded.
In the Benin Republic, one Lockheed plane has become something of a tourist attraction, sitting out in the desert.
Over in Nigeria, millions of dollars’ worth of planes sit abandoned across the country’s airports.
Believe it or not, planes can prove to be expensive even when they’re not in flight – as Air India found out with this Boeing 737.
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Following stints at LadBible, The Sun, The New York Post, and the Daily Mail, Ben joined the team full-time in February 2025. In his role as Senior Content Writer, his sparkling copy, the ability to sniff out a good story at 100 paces, and a GSOH quickly led to him becoming an integral and invaluable member of the writing staff.
