There is an entire fleet of Airbus A380s that have been sitting idle and abandoned at an airport in Thailand for years. It’s a well-known story by now, mainly because the planes are rotting in plain sight and have been there for a few years. Anyone flying to or from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport or U-Tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport will be able to see them. Only one was saved and you will never guess what it is used for now. That is why these Airbus A380s were abandoned here. A few years before the pandemic, Thai Airways took on more than it could chew by investing in a fleet of double-decker giants. The problem is that the Airbus A380 is one of the most expensive airplanes in the world. They cost a fortune to buy and maintain, which explains why very few airlines operate them. Thai Airways undoubtedly made a strategic mistake in purchasing all these planes, but it was also a bit unlucky because it didn’t arrive at the right time. Diecastjames’ Airbus A380s were already expensive to maintain before Covid, but when the pandemic halted so many flights around the world, Thai Airways had to suspend them all immediately. At that point, the airline realized that these giants were too thirsty and unprofitable, so they officially retired the entire fleet. Meanwhile, Thai Airways had also undergone the Thai equivalent of Chapter 11. [Bankruptcy protection] and was essentially ordered to sell or write off nearly half of its fleet. Six years later, the situation is still quite dramatic. Diecastjames Only one Thai Airways plane saved Not long ago, we spoke to a frequent traveler and content creator who goes by the name Diecastjames, and he told us that he saw at least four Airbus A380s abandoned at Bangkok airport. “I saw four A380s on the left. I saw three on the main storage taxiway, but there’s also a fourth one being dismantled near the hangar. And you can’t see that in the video,” Blondie told Supercar. The problem for Thai Airways is that getting rid of these planes is a slow, painful and complicated process, but it is also a race against time. Every minute you wait makes things worse because airplanes deteriorate pretty quickly when not used or maintained, while their value will likely continue to decline. Diecastjames It would probably help a little if we could at least find a silver lining and luckily there is. More or less. If we absolutely wanted to find a positive side, we could talk about the only one that was saved. One of these A380s, with registration number HS-TUE, was dismantled and then reassembled as a roadside attraction at a place called Rayong, about 120 kilometers south of the capital Bangkok. Google Maps A photographer named Dirk Grothe shared images of the plane in Rayong, Thailand and according to what Google Maps says, the plane is now used as a multi-purpose night market with cafes, restaurants, etc. You can find it on both Google Maps and Google Earth using the coordinates. It’s certainly a small consolation prize, as these planes probably deserved a better fate.
