Yeah - so of course the A380 has already returned to service with some crew recalled. The use of 737's are dependent on FZ not needing them for now, and limited to shorthaul. And will not be able to charge as much for an F pax to sit in a FZ J seat. It's a temporary solution.
With no cash in bank or revenue to secure another 100 aircraft order, EK will be stuck with the A380 for any proper expansion. Aircraft that are costing them to be grounded/maintained, and costing them with repayments, so they may as well use them where viable.
i.e The A380 is uneconomical - but if you take out the costs already spent on and around it - then it's unlikely to be better to scrap them, especially given the supply of free spare parts! Without the A380, they have a terrible hard product.
It's not the end for the Whale, but it does mean they wont need to dump capacity ahead of a global travel recovery. And that's not necessarily a bad thing for all of us in the long-run.
p.s The global travel recovery is still very much on schedule btw. Vaccine programmes continue to accelerate, more vaccines obtain approval. A recent study in Brazil, where they vaccinated 75% of a town at once concluded with dramatic results - that mass vaccination is indeed the silver bullet out of lockdown.
Businesses are even pledging "Zoom-free" days after studies about its psychological impact. Meanwhile those rich enough to travel in the first place, continue to get richer.
Last edited by Xulu; 4th Jun 2021 at 20:37.