TWO Airbus A380 aircraft have landed in Teruel and are among the 90 or so planes which will remain there until international travel returns to normal, having largely been halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Teruel's Caudé airport includes a flying school and is used by light aircraft – mostly privately-owned – and for goods transport, is the cheapest in the country, stores planes not in use, carries out maintenance, testing and parts recycling, but is not authorised for commercial passenger flights.
For this reason, the presence of two Airbus A380 – the largest passenger aircraft in the world – has caused quite a stir.
The first on the planet to have a 'second floor' for seating – the Boeing 747 is also 'two-storey' but the upper deck carries the fuselage – the Airbus A380's first flight was in April 2005 from the Toulouse (south-western France) plant, and its first commercial flight was at the end of October 2007, with Singapore Airlines.
Within a year, it was in operation for long-haul flights run by Qantas Airlines, the Australian national carrier.
Now, two of them – belonging to Air France – are being stored in Teruel until they can resume their usual activity.
Teruel airport has space for over 250 craft, and is expected to see more and more commercial passenger planes landing there shortly for storage during the pandemic.
The nearest passenger airports to the province of Teruel are Valencia and Zaragoza.
