The Hi Fly Airbus A380 is having a bit of a bumpy baptism with its first few clients, first, there were massive delays in New York when the delightful double-decked superjumbo had been wet leased by Norwegian for its LGW to JFK route.
The delays were not really of Hi Fly's making, more to do with the congestion at the departure gate configured for use by Airbus A380 aircraft which was already in use at the time of Norwegian's JFK flights. It seems the New York port authority wouldn't allow passengers to board the aircraft manually, via old-fashioned stairs, so they had to wait to use the departure gate.
Now the brightly painted aircraft has been hired by Air Austral to operate its flights to Reunion. Indeed, the A380 was operating the longest non stop domestic flight in the world, the airline said on 1st September, flying the St. Denis, Reunion to Paris. The double-decked plane carried 506 people over the 5,809 miles in 11 hours on the 1st. Everything was going well, until Friday last week, when one of the A380's engine cowlings was damaged by a jetbridge at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. It has been reported that the aircraft was being towed by airport staff when the prang happened, although this hasn't yet been confirmed. According to FlightRadar24 the aircraft is still in Paris and undergoing repairs, although it isn't clear when the jet will be back in the air, we hope it will be soon.
More on the A380 from Hi Fly and its special 'save the coral reefs livery here.HiFly A380 is under maintenance after one of its engines has been hit by an airbridge at Paris CDG— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) September 9, 2018
https://t.co/n0LBXzgPn7
