Qantas to jettison flagship jet sooner as profit slides

Qantas, Australia's leading airline, is planning to retire its beloved double-decker A380 jets earlier than initially scheduled to save hundreds of millions in costs. The carrier will begin phasing out its fleet of 10 A380s by 2028, rather than the originally planned 2032, following a sharp drop in profits due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.

In 2025/26, Qantas reported a net profit of $1.3 billion, down 19.8% from the previous year, with a loss of $420 million attributed to the war. The decision to retire the aircraft sooner will result in about $300 million in savings, primarily from lower maintenance costs. Qantas uses the wide-body planes on long-haul international routes out of Sydney and Melbourne, and they have been a critical part of the carrier's response to the Iran conflict, accommodating passengers looking to alter their travel plans around the Middle East.