• Grounded airplanes — including Airbus A380s, Boeing MAX 8s and other smaller aircraft — are seen at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility in May, 2020 in Alice Springs, Australia. The number of passenger planes housed at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with at least four Airbus A380 planes grounded there. | GETTY IMAGES / BLOOMBERG
    Grounded airplanes — including Airbus A380s, Boeing MAX 8s and other smaller aircraft — are seen at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility in May, 2020 in Alice Springs, Australia. The number of passenger planes housed at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with at least four Airbus A380 planes grounded there. | GETTY IMAGES / BLOOMBERG
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Written off as an over-sized anachronism when COVID-19 upended aviation, the world’s largest passenger plane is enjoying an unlikely revival to handle an overwhelming rebound in air travel.

Many airlines struggled to see a future for their enormous Airbus SE A380s when the pandemic grounded fleets in early 2020. Qantas Airways parked its 12 double-deckers in the Californian desert, saying they wouldn’t be needed for at least three years, while Etihad Airways said it’s not clear if its 10 superjumbos will ever fly again.

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