While its registration cannot be verified, all other Qantas A380s have now left California and are either in service or being upgraded in Abu Dhabi.

Qantas grounded its entire fleet of 12 A380s during the pandemic, with most sent to the notorious Southern California Logistics Airport, better known as Victorville.

The business has been slowly returning them to commercial flying.

As of 13 April, Qantas now has seven A380s back flying commercially: VH-OQB, VH-OQD, VH-OQH, VH-OQK, VH-OQJ, VH-OQG, and VH-OQL.

Of the rest, VH-OQC, VH-OQA and VH-OQI are currently in Abu Dhabi receiving a cabin upgrade.

Australian Aviation reported earlier this month how Qantas welcomed back into service VH-OQL, which is now flying between Sydney and Hong Kong.

It comes after another A380 from the national carrier made national news in December when it made an emergency landing in Baku while en route to London.

The incident happened after a sensor light alerted pilots to the possibility of smoke in the cargo hold days before Christmas.

The aircraft turned around above Tbilisi, Georgia, before touching down in Azerbaijan.

Investigations later revealed no evidence of smoke, meaning the incident was due to a fault with the sensor and a false alarm.

Qantas dispatched a recovery flight, which landed in the British capital on Christmas Day.

The grounded aircraft, VH-OQH, was later deemed safe to fly and returned to commercial service days later.

VH-OQA, Qantas’ first A380, was involved in arguably Australian aviation’s most serious-ever safety incident, when its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine exploded shortly after it took off, causing a major fire in November 2010. It subsequently returned to service.

A380s from other airlines have also made the news.

Emirates relaunched its daily service from Sydney to Christchurch using its A380s — the only flight across the ditch to use the super jumbo.

The airline also restarted its daily Melbourne–Singapore–Dubai service as EK404/405 using its Boeing 777-300ERs.

“Our Melbourne–Singapore–Dubai service will offer travellers a strong connection opportunity between two global travel hubs, providing access to substantial leisure and business activities, plus fantastic onwards links to and through Dubai,” said Barry Brown, divisional vice-president Australasia at Emirates.

“We also welcome back our Sydney–Christchurch service, a favourite for travellers between New Zealand and Australia. As the only A380 experience between the sister countries across the Trans-Tasman, passengers will be able to take advantage of Emirates’ signature experience, including a superior first and business class offering, plus our highly popular premium economy cabin, one of the best in the air.”