Portuguese wet-lease operator Hi Fly’s ferry of the first Global Airlines Airbus A380 to Germany, like its transatlantic flight to Scotland, was carried out with its undercarriage deployed.

Hi Fly vice-chair Carlos Mirpuri, who led the flight, states that the aircraft flew 789nm (1,461km) from Glasgow Prestwick to Dresden where the jet will be serviced by EFW.

The gear-down ferry on 4 October was conducted at lower altitude – around 27,000ft – and a reduced cruising speed, taking 2h 20min.

Transfer of the A380 to Dresden follows an agreement under which EFW will carry out heavy maintenance for the aircraft.

Global Airlines is intending to commence services with the A380, an ex-China Southern Airlines airframe, next year – a timeline which was pushed back earlier this year owing to maintenance and operational considerations.

“I look forward to flying this beautiful aircraft again when it has completed its maintenance programme at EFW,” says Mirpuri.

He was part of a three-person flightcrew for the Dresden ferry which also included Hi Fly chief executive Antonios Efthymiou.

The same crew carried out the transfer of the A380 from storage in the Mojave desert to Prestwick, via Montreal, at the end of April.

UK-based Global Airlines is planning to use the aircraft on transatlantic services to destinations including New York and Los Angeles.

“Working with our friends at EFW, we will now progress towards our first commercial flights next year,” says the prospective carrier’s chief, James Asquith.

“It is hard to put into words just how much work goes into getting a commercial aircraft back up into the sky and the A380 is the biggest and most complex of them all.”

Following the mandatory inspections and component replacements, which will be carried out at EFW’s facilities, Global Airlines says the aircraft will be “repositioned within Europe” for interior overhaul.