Airbus is undertaking a series of flight tests with its original A380 testbed as part of an effort to improve the in-service fleet.
The airframer has not specified the nature of the testing involving MSN1.
But it says the aircraft has undergone “several months of preparation” and system upgrades, as well as the set-up of test installations, in order to conduct the flights.
Airbus says the tests are “necessary for certifying the latest system developments which will soon be installed on in-service aircraft”.
The airframer officially lists 220 A380s as remaining in operation, out of the 251 which were produced.
MSN1 carried out a sortie of around 3h 15min on 14 March.
FlightGlobal understands that the aircraft will participate in a long series of tests given the nature of the activities planned for supporting A380 fleet development.
These will include testing of new functions created to maintain high safety and reliability standards on the aircraft type.
