the French Pyrenees.

Singapore Airlines still has brand new A380s on the way, and earlier this month revealed new seat designs for its superjumbos (see gallery above).

The A380 is the third built -- the first two being test planes -- and made the initial commercial flight by a superjumbo, between Singapore and Sydney on October 25, 2007. The jetliner's last passenger trip was to the city state from London on June 10, after which it was grounded for decommissioning. By comparison, Boeing 747-400 planes operated by British Airways typically date from 1990, according to the Ascend Worldwide database, with some slated to remain in service until 2024.

Dr. Peters, which owns four Singapore A380s, said that talks with potential new users of the aircraft continue and that it remains "optimistic"as orders dry up.

Airbus struck a blank on selling new A380s last year and has offered to revamp the model with fuel-saving winglets and 80 extra seats on top of the standard 550 to improve its appeal.

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Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyreenees airport, located 120 kilometres from Airbus's Toulouse headquarters in southwest France, is a popular parking site for jetliners. Tarmac Aerosave, Europe's biggest aircraft storage company, says it can accommodate 25 planes there and hundreds more at Teruel, Spain.


The second aircraft due for return is also grounded at Singapore Changi airport where, like the first, it will be repainted white before heading to France.

Rolls-Royce has a deal covering all four of the Dr. Peters planes which can be extended into 2019, going some way to ease the pressure to strike an