12 planes, 5 destinations – Where British Airways will fly its Airbus A380s in December 2025
November 30, 2025
2025 marks 12 years since British Airways took delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo. Since then, the carrier’s 12 A380s have travelled hundreds of thousands of miles carrying millions of passengers to their destinations.
With its full fleet back in active service following a period during which these aircraft had an uncertain future, the airline has become reliant on the type to operate some of its busiest routes from the carrier’s hub at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR).
In this article, Aerospace Global News takes a deeper look into the British Airways fleet of A380s, and where the airline will be operating these aircraft as the curtain falls on 2025.
British Airways and the Airbus A380
British Airways first became an Airbus A380 operator in July 2013 when the carrier took delivery of G-XLEA from the European manufacturer’s A380 final assembly plant in Toulouse.
With Heathrow already facing severe slot constraints and the carrier needing a larger aircraft than its Boeing 747-400s, British Airways originally ordered 12 A380s in 2007 to supplement its widebody fleet. Over the following three years from 2013, the company took delivery of another 11 A380s, fulfilling the original order for 12 airframes.
Now, with an average age of 11.6 years, the fleet of A380s is deployed on a varied route network from London, although the list of destinations has changed over the years as demand on various international routes has fluctuated.
In December 2025, the carrier’s fleet of A380s will serve five global destinations from Heathrow and will operate 49 rotations (return flights) to those cities.
Configured to carry 499 passengers in a four-class arrangement, each of the 12 aircraft features 14 seats in first class, 97 in business class, 55 in premium economy and 30 in economy class.
Although the aircraft have been in service for 12 years, the COVID-19 pandemic saw all of the aircraft parked and placed in storage for around two years.
The aircraft were sent to Chateauroux Airport (CHR) in France and Teruel Airport (TEV) in Spain, while some also ended up spending some time in storage at Madrid (MAD) and Doha (DOH) airports.
With the first aircraft (G-XLEF) ferrying back to Heathrow to resume service in November 2021, the remaining 11 aircraft followed over the next few months, with all aircraft being back in service by the end of 2022.
The existing British Airways A380 fleet
With 12 active aircraft in service, British Airways has its entire A380 fleet back operating commercial flights.
Unlike carriers such as Qantas and Etihad that are still returning their own A380s to service after being stored during the pandemic, British Airways has had a chance to refine its operations with the A380 and has settled on a small number of destinations to keep its fleet of 12 aircraft busy.
- G-XLEA was delivered in July 2013 and is 13 years old
- G-XLEB was delivered in September 2013 and is 12.8 years old
- G-XLEC was delivered in October 2013 and is 12.7 years old
- G-XLED was delivered in January 2014 and is 12.3 years old
- G-XLEE was delivered in March 2014 and is 12.1 years old
- G-XLEF was delivered in May 2014 and is 11.9 years old
- G-XLEG was delivered in September 2014 and is 11.6 years old
- G-XLEH was delivered in October 2014 and is 11.5 years old
- G-XLEI was delivered in February 2015 and is 11.2 years old
- G-XLEJ was delivered in November 2015 and is 10.5 years old
- G-XLEK was delivered in February 2016 and is 10.2 years old
- G-XLEL was delivered in June 2016 and is 9.8 years old
Note: All fleet data is sourced from Planespotters.net and is correct as of November 2025. Ages shown are calculated from the first flight date rather than the delivery date to the airline.
The five global destinations that receive British Airways A380 services
According to data obtained from aviation analytics firm Cirium, British Airways A380s will serve five overseas routes from London Heathrow in December 2025.
All five routes exceed 3,000 miles (4,800km) in length and see the A380 operate daily, although two of the destinations see two British Airways A380s arrive each day of the week.
Heathrow (LHR) to Los Angeles (LAX)
This route will see British Airways use the A380 on its daily BA268/269 service alongside a Boeing 777-300ER, which will operate another rotation.
The 5,456-mile (8,729km) route will take around ten hours and 30 minutes westbound, while the return leg will take around nine hours and 45 minutes due to the jet stream.
Heathrow (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO)
Just like its southern Californian counterpart, the London to San Francisco route will see British Airways use the A380 on the daily BA284/285 service alongside a Boeing 777-300ER, which operates earlier in the day.
Remarkably similar in timings to the Los Angeles route, the 5,368-mile (8,588km) route will take around ten hours and 30 minutes westbound, while the return leg will take around nine hours and 45 minutes.
Heathrow (LHR) to Miami (MIA)
Heading over to the eastern side of the US, Miami International Airport will be the only US destination to see a double-daily service using A380s from British Airways.
Carrying on from the summer/autumn 2025 schedules, the airline will continue to send two A380s per day to the Florida city, equalling 998 available seats daily in each direction.
Flights BA206/207 and BA208/2099 will cover the 4,425-mile (7,080km) route in around nine hours and 30 mins outbound and eight hours and 30 minutes back to Heathrow.
Heathrow (LHR) to Johannesburg (JNB)
The only British Airways A380 flight to the continent of Africa, and also the second of the five routes to see a double-daily A380 service, the airline will send two of its 12 A380s to Johannesburg each day throughout December. Flights BA54/55 and BA56/57 will both be operated by the superjumbo.
With a route length of 5,620 miles (8,992km), the flights between London and South Africa will take just under 11 hours in each direction.
Heathrow (LHR) to Dubai (DXB)
A popular route during the northern winter months, Dubai International Airport will see British Airways operate a daily service (BA106/107) with an A380 alongside two other daily services using Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
With a route length of just 3,420 miles (5,420km), the flights between London and Dubai are by far the shortest of the airline’s six A380 routes in December 2025.
The flights are scheduled to take around six hours and 30 minutes southbound, with the northbound flights taking 30-45 minutes longer.
The A380 has made a strong comeback for British Airways
With its future flying career having been under a dark cloud for around two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, British Airways’ 12 Airbus A380s have bounced back strongly and almost seem indispensable nowadays.
Flying in the company’s long-haul fleet alongside Boeing 777-200ERs, 777-300ERs, and the whole family of 787 Dreamliners, the airline has found that its A380 best serves high-density long-haul routes such as those listed above.
Although some analysts criticise the A380 for its high operating costs, it should be remembered that British Airways chose to mothball its A380s rather than scrap them during the pandemic, unlike the airline’s 30 remaining Boeing 747-400s, which were all retired.
With its high passenger capacity, long-haul capability and its relatively low average age, British Airways is likely to keep operating its A380s for many more years.
Like carriers such as Etihad, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Emirates, British Airways continues to benefit from the aircraft type being in the fleet, while passengers continue to love flying on Airbus’ spacious and quiet superjumbo.
Featured image: Markus Kämpfer / stock.adobe.com
