The HiFly Airbus A380 wet-leased to Air Austral collides with a jetbridge at Paris CDG

The Airbus A380 that was to connect Paris to Reunion on Air Austral flight UU978 did not take off from Charles de Gaulle airport on Friday night, 7 September. The plane crashed into a jetbridge. The passengers were not on board. Many schedule changes will follow.

A collision occurred at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris this Friday evening between the Air Austral A380 (reg. 9H-MIP) and a jetbridge. The accident occurred during towing while no passengers were present on board. One of the engines was damaged by the collision.

The aircraft is currently under maintenance with HiFly. There is no information yet about its return into service.

The passengers were accommodated in Paris. They would be transported to Reunion with two Paris-Reunion flights on Boeing aircraft this Saturday, 8 September.

The incident has consequences on many connecting flights, e.g. between Mayotte and Reunion. Other disruptions should follow especially with the link with South Africa. And Paris-Réunion Sunday night flight will leave only Monday morning.

Timetable changes are also expected on some Air Austral medium-haul flights on Sunday 9 September 2018, particularly on the Reunion – Johannesburg and Reunion – Seychelles flights.

Passengers affected by these changes will be contacted individually by Air Austral by SMS and/or E-mail.

Air Austral announces the continuation of the lease of the A380 until mid-September.