D-AIMK: Lufthansa flies Airbus A380 to Frankfurt with landing gear down

The German airline is bringing a first super jumbo from Spain back to Germany. From there, Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 with the registration D-AIMK will soon be on its way to the Philippines.

It was much later as planned. But shortly following 4 p.m. on Friday followingnoon (December 2), the Airbus A380 with the registration D-AIMK took off. He departed Teruel Airport as flight LH9921 bound for Frankfurt. The jet is the first of four superjumbos that Lufthansa is bringing back into service.

In March 2020, D-AIMK had completed its last commercial flight to date and has been at the airport since May 2020 Spanish airport specializing in aircraft storage. In order to get the A380 fit once more for the flight to Frankfurt, around 3,000 working hours were needed on the super jumbo over the past eight weeks.

“We will leave the undercarriage outside”

However, the nine-year-old plane is far from ready to operate with passengers. For example, the Airbus A380 flies on Friday with the wheels folded out. “We will not retract the landing gear following take-off, but leave it out,” says Captain Richard Lenz, who is also responsible for training the A380 cockpit crews at Lufthansa.

Fly back from the @aeropuerteruel @TeruelAirport @TarmacAerosave of @lufthansa #A380 D-AIMK, last previous flight May 2020 bound for @Airport_FRA pic.twitter.com/tF2QO8mVvg

— Teruel Airport, innovation flies (@aeropuerteruel) December 2, 2022

“For us, from the pilot’s point of view, that means we can’t fly as fast as we usually fly. And we can’t fly as high as we usually fly,” Lenz explains the consequences. «We will use a little more fuel on the way to Frankfurt. And the noise level in the cockpit will be significantly higher.”

From Frankfurt to Manila

The reason for this: It is not possible to test in Teruel whether the retraction and extension of the landing gear still works correctly following the long period of inactivity. The equipment for that is missing. That’s why Lufthansa leaves the bikes outside, just to be on the safe side.

The D-AIMK will land in Frankfurt shortly following 7 p.m. There it will then be prepared in such a way that it can fly to the Lufthansa Technik site in Manila in the Philippines, where the four-engine aircraft will be extensively serviced. As soon as he is back in Germany, there will be inspections by cabin crews and test flights for the pilots who have already practiced in the simulator.

Use in Munich

The Airbus A380 is scheduled to go into service in the summer of 2023 together with three other reactivated double-deckers from Munich. Lufthansa is also keeping an open more super jumbos back into operation pick up. Boeing’s current problems with the 777-9which the German airline is also waiting for, should increase the chances of this happening even more.

In the picture gallery above you can see photos of the Airbus A380 with the registration D-AIMK.