BA splits an A380 over several A321s
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Aviation HQ@2:292/854 to
All on Wed Nov 26 10:55:35 2025
British Airways had to split an Airbus A380 flight from Johannesburg to London Heathrow on Friday evening due to technical problems and a potential operating hours overrun. The aircraft made a stopover in Madrid en route, where passengers were flown on smaller aircraft to the United Kingdom.
Nearly 470 passengers were scheduled to fly back to London Heathrow on flight BA54. However, the departure time was postponed several times because the A380, registration G-XLEA, encountered technical problems, PYOK reports.
Ultimately, the A380 was unable to depart until around 5:00 AM local time, some seven hours later than planned. Because the delay would have caused the crew to exceed their duty hours, this flight could not be operated in one go. Furthermore, British Airways had no backup crew available in Johannesburg.
British Airways then decided to make a stopover in Madrid. While the A380 was en route to Madrid, British Airways flew in A321s to pick up some of the passengers there. These aircraft can seat 218 passengers. The remaining passengers were distributed between regular British Airways and Iberia flights from Madrid to London Heathrow.
--- DB4 - 20230201
* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)