Lufthansa is one of the three European airlines that received brand new A380s from Airbus. That said, just like British Airways and Air France, it grounded the superjumbos during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the airline, at one point, decided to retire its A380s for good, it backtracked on that decision.
With that, Lufthansa is in the process of reactivating the aircraft. Continue reading to find out how many Lufthansa A380s are currently flying, what destinations they serve, and more.

Lufthansa A380 Routes
On June 1, 2023, Lufthansa A380 operated its first post-pandemic commercial flight on the Munich – Boston route. Unlike before the pandemic, the superjumbo only operates out of Munich now; there are no Lufthansa A380 flights from Frankfurt. The A380s currently operate flights from Munich to Boston and New York JFK. From the winter schedule, they will be deployed on flights to Los Angeles and Bangkok instead.

Currently, Lufthansa operates its sole daily rotation between Munich and Boston (LH424/LH425) using the A380. Until the end of May 2023, the flights were operated by Airbus A340. They will return to the A340 during the winter schedule, starting on October 28, 2023.
The Lufthansa A380 is also being deployed on the airline’s daily flight from Munich to New York JFK (LH410/LH411). This flight was operated by the A340 until July 3, 2023, and will be operated again by the A340 from October 29, 2023.
The Munich – Los Angeles flights (LH452/LH453) are scheduled to be operated by the A380 daily between October 5, 2023, and March 30, 2024. The Munich – Bangkok route (LH772/LH773) will switch to the A380 a bit later, operating the flights between October 28, 2023, and March 30, 2024. Both of these routes were operated by the A350 during the 2023 summer schedule and are expected to be operated by the A350 during the 2024 summer schedule too.
Before operating the scheduled flights mentioned above, Lufthansa’s A380s did training flights around Europe visiting airports like Hannover, Leipzig, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna. Unfortunately, no seats were sold on those flights.
Lufthansa A380 Fleet
Lufthansa received a total of 14 A380 from Airbus between 2010 and 2015. As mentioned in the introduction, it grounded the entire A380 fleet when the pandemic hit. While during the pandemic, Lufthansa made a decision to retire the A380s completely, it has since then backtracked on the decision.
The airline said in a statement that “due to the significant increase in demand for airline tickets and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft, Lufthansa had decided in 2022 to reactivate the Airbus A380.” Primarily, it is experiencing delays related to Boeing 787 and 777X deliveries.
While at one point, Lufthansa adjusted its original plans of bringing four to five airframes out of service to just three, that plan appears to have been revised. As of August 2023, four aircraft have been brought out of storage with three of them being back on scheduled routes at this point. Those include:
- D-AIMK (MSN 146, delivered in 2014)
- D-AIMM (MSN 175, delivered in 2015)
- D-AIML (MSN 149, delivered in 2014)
- D-AIMN (MSN 177, delivered in 2015)
The first three of those airframes are back in commercial service. The fourth one was flown from Teruel to Frankfurt on June 16, 2023, and then on to Manila for maintenance on July 25, 2023.
Lufthansa A380 Seat Configuration
Lufthansa A380s are equipped with 509 seats across four classes.
Their main deck is equipped with 52 premium economy class seats in a 2-4-2 layout at the front followed by 336 of the aircraft’s 371 economy class seats in a 3-4-3 layout. The upper deck features 8 first class seats in a 1-2-1 layout, 78 business class seats in a 2-2-2 layout, and the remaining 35 economy class seats in a 2-4-2 layout.
The upper deck economy class cabin offers greater comfort as it is not only smaller than the cabins on the main deck and lacks middle seats along the windows but its window seats also come with storage boxes along the wall. Business class features the same subpar business class seats as most other Lufthansa widebodies. I reviewed the same type of seat but on an A340 here.
The last thing worth noting here is that Lufthansa’s A380s lack any of the bells and whistles that some other airlines’ (like Emirates and Qatar Airways) A380s feature like bars and showers.
Lufthansa A380 Retirement Plans
While Lufthansa received a total of 14 A380s from Airbus, it has since sold six of those back to the manufacturer. As such, there are four parked A380s in Lufthansa’s fleet – most of them if not all unlikely to return into service – on top of the reactivated four.
The 12 Lufthansa and ex-Lufthansa A380s that are currently sitting on the ground include:
- D-AIMA (MSN 38, delivered in 2010)
- D-AIMB (MSN 41, delivered in 2010)
- D-AIMC (MSN 44, delivered in 2010)
- D-AIMD (MSN 48, delivered in 2010)
- D-AIME (MSN 61, delivered in 2011)
- D-AIMF (MSN 66, delivered in 2011)
- D-AIMG (MSN 69, delivered in 2011)
- D-AIMH (MSN 70, delivered in 2011)
- D-AIMI (MSN 72, delivered in 2012)
- D-AIMJ (MSN 73, delivered in 2012)
In terms of the aircraft that are being brought out of storage, it is hard to tell when they will be retired. Currently, they are scheduled to fly during the winter 2023 schedule but not beyond that. That said, considering that bringing airplanes out of storage and reactivating them is an expensive endeavor, it wouldn’t be surprising if the A380 gets loaded into the winter schedule at some later point.
Only time will tell.

Summary
Like several other A380 operators, Lufthansa reversed the decision it made during the pandemic and decided to bring some of the superjumbos back into service. Four of those have already flown out of storage with three of those being back to operating scheduled routes and the fourth one undergoing maintenance.
Currently, the type can be seen on flights from Munich to Boston and New York. During the winter schedule, the A380 will operate flights to Los Angeles and Bangkok instead. What will happen after that remains to be seen.
To see what other airlines operate the A380, check this article. If you like quad jets, also read my articles about Lufthansa A340s and 747s.
First published on 2023/04/04. Last updated on 2023/08/18 to include the latest information about the number of active airframes and routes.