Qantas will begin phasing out its 10-strong fleet of A380s in 2028, instead of 2032, it revealed on Thursday.
The carrier uses the wide-body planes on long-haul international routes out of Sydney and Melbourne, such as Sydney to London via Singapore and Melbourne to Los Angeles.
The announcement comes after the airline revealed it suffered a fall in annual earnings as the impact of war in the Middle East and higher jet fuel costs shaved hundreds of millions off its results.
Qantas made a net profit of $1.3 billion for 2025/26, down 19.8 per cent from the previous financial year.
Chief executive Vanessa Hudson on Thursday recalled being at Airbus' headquarters in Toulouse, France, when Qantas collected its first A380 in 2008.
"It actually just feels like yesterday, but I can remember the excitement that we had as an organisation around what this new aircraft was going to do," she told reporters.
"And since then, those aircraft have carried millions of customers around the world, and they are loved by our customers, and they are loved by our staff."
The aircraft was incredibly valuable in Qantas' response to the war with Iran, accommodating customers shifting their travel around the Middle East.
But the A380 is no longer in production, with Airbus delivering its last one to Emirates in December 2021.
The costs of operating the aircraft would only increase in terms of both maintenance and disruptions, Ms Hudson said.
The next-generation jets replacing them can fly further, operating all of Qantas' current routes and opening up new ones.
In April, Qantas will take delivery of the first of a dozen Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft, which it will fly from Sydney to New York and London non-stop beginning in October under "Project Sunrise."
"I can tell you that my excitement and the reaction to this aircraft has been like nothing I have seen," Ms Hudson said.
Qantas also has existing orders for 12 more standard Airbus A350s and a dozen more Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The first of the Dreamliners will begin arriving in 2027/28 and will feature sliding privacy doors in business class.
"The new aircraft that are coming are fantastic, and we know that our customers are going to love them," Ms Hudson promised.
Qantas Group's Jetstar subsidiary this week used one of its Dreamliners to launch new flights between Melbourne and Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Qantas is in further talks with Airbus and Boeing to convert 20 of its existing purchase rights options to firm orders from 2030.
"Given that process is underfoot, there's not much more to say about that," Ms Hudson said.
The airline also revealed it suffered a fall in annual earnings as the impact of war in the Middle East and higher jet fuel costs shaved hundreds of millions off its results.
Qantas made a net profit of $1.3 billion for 2025/26, down 19.8 per cent from the previous financial year.
Its underlying pre-tax profit also fell, by 13.8 per cent to $2.1 billion, after a 7.1 per cent rise in revenue to $25.5 billion.
The conflict cost the airline $610 million in increased fuel costs, although Qantas' efforts to adjust fares and redeploy aircraft limited its net impact to $420 million.
Shares in Qantas, which will pay a final dividend of 19.8 cents for an annual total of 39.6 cents, rose by more than two per cent to $9.44 in morning trading.
Qantas has also cancelled a planned $150 million share buyback.
