How the Airbus A380 superjumbo went from an airline status symbol to being sold for spare parts in just 10 years

The Airbus A380 entered service in 2008 with great fanfare. A decade later, the arrival of an Airbus Superjumbo remains an event to behold.

But, the A380 has not been the game-changer Airbus had hoped it would become when it conceived the massive double-decker. This is especially the case on the financial front.

For much of its service life, Airbus has struggled to find airlines willing to put the A380 into service. And now aircraft leasing companies are facing the same struggles. In fact, the market for second hand, off-lease A380s is virtually non-existent.

On Tuesday, Dr. Peters Group announced that two of its Airbus A380s will be stripped down and sold for spare parts after the company failed to find any takers for its second-hand superjumbos.

“The market for the A380-800 aircraft type has not developed positively in recent years,” Dr. Peters Group CEO Anselm Gehling said in a statement. “Some airlines have canceled orders from Airbus, while others have opted for smaller long-haul jets.”

The German investment firm expects the two ex-Singapore Airlines planes to generate $80 million of income each.

The depreciation is fairly jarring when you consider that a new A380 carried a $300 million price tag back in 2007 when these planes were built. While a new A380 today has a list price of $445.6 million.

According to Reuters, the $40 million it costs to refurbish a used A380’s interior is a major turn off for many in the market for a second-hand superjumbo.

The two soon-to-be-disassembled planes are believed to be the third and fifth A380s ever built. A third ex-Singapore A380 did find a new a home. The sixth A380s built will enter into service with Portuguese charter airline Hi-Fly this summer.

Here’s a closer look at the turbulent history of the Airbus A380: