Lufthansa A380 Leaving Abu Dhabi Sends Planespotters Into Frenzy
A Lufthansa Airbus A380 aircraft at Munich airport.
Photographer: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance/Getty Images
With airspace over much of the Middle East closed, planespotters keeping a keen eye on scattered aircraft movements Monday were quick to pinpoint one takeoff that appeared to defy the odds: A giant Airbus SE A380 operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG leaving Abu Dhabi en route to Munich.
Turns out, the double-decker plane wasn’t operating a commercial flight. Rather, the mammoth jet had just completed maintenance and was returning to its Munich base without passengers under special flight number LH 9851 as a so-called ferry flight, according to the German airline.