British Airways Airbus A380 Makes U-Turn to Johannesburg

LONDON— A British Airways (BA) Airbus A380 was forced to return to Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) shortly after departure for London Heathrow Airport (LHR) following reports of smoke inside the cabin and crew rest area on August 1, 2025.

The aircraft, operating as flight BA55, landed safely less than an hour after takeoff. While no injuries were reported, the widebody jet remained grounded in Johannesburg for two days, causing flight cancellations and schedule disruptions.

Photo: Clément Alloing

British Airways A380 Returns to Johannesburg

Flight BA55, a daily British Airways service between Johannesburg (JNB) and London Heathrow (LHR), departed later than scheduled on August 1.

The Airbus A380 registered G-XLED took off at 19:56 local time, around 30 minutes behind its planned departure.

Just 11 minutes into the flight, the aircraft stopped climbing at 22,000 feet after pilots received alerts of smoke in the crew rest area. According to passenger accounts and industry reports, smoke was also detected in the cabin, prompting an immediate decision to return to Johannesburg.

The jet, carrying more than 400 passengers and over 100 tons of fuel for the long-haul sector, conducted holding patterns northwest of the city to reduce landing weight. Despite this, it was still overweight when it touched down 53 minutes after departure.

Emergency services inspected the aircraft on arrival before it taxied to the terminal for passenger disembarkation, Simple Flying reported.

Grounding and Flight Cancellations

Data from Flightradar24 shows that G-XLED remained grounded in Johannesburg for just over two days following the incident.

The disruption led to the cancellation of a scheduled London–Boston (BOS) round trip on August 2. The aircraft eventually returned to London as a non-commercial positioning flight, BA9159, on August 3.

British Airways confirmed the technical issue and stated that safety procedures were followed. The airline apologized to passengers for the disruption.

Photo: MCO Airport

The A380 on British Airways’ Johannesburg Route

British Airways operates an all-A380 service between London Heathrow (LHR) and Johannesburg (JNB).

According to scheduling data from Cirium, the airline runs two daily flights in each direction, all overnight services lasting around 11 hours.

Current British Airways Johannesburg Schedule:

• BA54: 21:15 from Johannesburg – 07:30 arrival in London
• BA55: 19:05 from London – 07:00 arrival in Johannesburg
• BA56: 19:25 from Johannesburg – 05:35 arrival in London
• BA57: 21:25 from London – 09:25 arrival in Johannesburg

Previously, only one of these rotations was operated by the A380, with the other assigned to a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The shift to an all-superjumbo schedule reflects demand on the Johannesburg–London sector, one of British Airways’ busiest long-haul routes.

Photo: By Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – G-XLEK British Airways Airbus A380-841 s/n 194, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62480313

The Aircraft Involved

The Airbus A380 involved, registered G-XLED, is 12 years old. It first flew in August 2013 and was delivered to British Airways in January 2014. The airline operates a fleet of 12 A380s, each configured with 469 seats across four cabins.

Fleet data shows BA’s A380s have an average age of 11.4 years. Despite industry uncertainty over the future of the A380, the type continues to play a critical role on high-demand routes like Johannesburg.

Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.

Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News

The post British Airways Airbus A380 Makes U-Turn to Johannesburg appeared first on Aviation A2Z.