Lisbon, Portugal based charter airline Hi Fly has announced that it plans to acquire an Airbus A380. The carrier plans to configured the aircraft with 471 seats, with 12 in first class, 60 in business class, and 399 in economy class. The A380 is scheduled to begin flights with the airline in mid 2018, and is a leased aircraft that was returned by Singapore Airlines.
Hi Fly will become the fourth airline based in Europe to operate the aircraft along with Air France, British Airways, and Lufthansa, but will be the first as a dedicated charter airline. The A380 has seen slow sales, as the logistics of continuing to be able to fill 550 plus seats on a consistent basis has been a challenge for most operators. One has to wonder how a charter airline will be able to operate the aircraft with not only enough paying passengers, but also enough of a schedule frequency to be able to cover the acquisition and operational costs?
Hi Fly currently operates a fleet of 8 Airbus aircraft, including 1 A321-200, 3 A330-200’s, and 4 A340’s. The carrier also has 12 A330’s on order, with 2 A330-200’s also scheduled to enter service starting this June. The other 10 are A330-900neo’s, as well as plans for a second A380. This seems like a huge increase in capacity for the carrier, but they also provide “for hire” services to other airlines. If another airline is unable to operate a flight due to maintenance or scheduling issues, they can call Hi Fly to operate that flight for them. Only time will tell if the increase in the carrier’s revenues can cover their costs.
