A quick history of A380 visits to MSP - Updated June 2026

Nick Benson - JetTip

Lufthansa's MUC-DEN, DLH480, diverted into MSP on August 6, 2025, on account of a medical emergency; this is the fifth visit of an Airbus super to Minnesota, the first since 2017.

The Airbus A380 is an infrequent visitor to the Twin Cities. At the time of writing (June 2026), it has been here six times, once on a sales tour for Airbus, along with a pair of medical diversions by both Lufthansa and British Airways, and a single visit from Emirates. MSP has a pretty wide catchment area for medical diversions of large aircraft, being a major airport with top-level hospitals close to the airfield.

While British Airways, Lufthansa, and Emirates have diverted into the Twin Cities, depending on weather patterns, our airspace also sees Asiana and Korean A380s to New York.

November 26-28, 2007; A380 Tour

F-WWJB was the first Airbus A380 to visit many airports while it was touring for Airbus in 2007; while MSP didn't make the cut for its first round of US visits in that spring, we did get a visit that fall.

Arriving on November 26, 2007 in the dark, it did a flight for invited media and Northwest Airlines on the 27th, before continuing to LAX on the 28th. It parked at Humphrey Terminal's (now Terminal 2) gate H7. The publicly flight departed at ~10:15 AM, flying over DLH and FAR, before returning to MSP around 11:45 AM.

Looking at JetPhotos, I suspect the MSP flight flew in directly from France (CDG? TLS?) before continuing to LAX.

• John Weeks
• Northwest Airlines History Center
• Pioneer Press
• MPR News / YouTube
• KMSPVideos / YouTube
• Bruce Leibowitz / JetPhotos

July 16, 2014; British Airways 268

BAW268, LAX-LHR, operated by G-XLEB, diverted into MSP for a medical emergency involving crew in the early morning hours of July 16, 2014; parked on the de-ice pads north of the tower. It departed around 6:00 AM. The flight got some attention as Piers Morgan, a TV news commentator, was aboard and tweeting updates.

• FlightRadar24 / Twitter
• Pioneer Press
• WorldAviation 4K / YouTube

December 29, 2015; Lufthansa 455

DLH455, SFO-FRA, operated by D-AIMN, diverted into MSP for a medical emergency. It arrived at 8:50 PM, parked on runway 4/22, and departed at 11:56 PM.

• FlightAware Arrival, Departure
• Chris Lundberg / Flickr
• Zuerichspotter / YouTube

September 11, 2017; British Airways 286

BA286/BAW6B, SFO-LHR, operated by G-XLEE, diverted into MSP in the early morning hours of September 11, 2017 due to a medical issue. It parked on the Humphrey remote ramp, and departed in darkness fairly quickly.

• VASAviation / YouTube

August 6, 2025; Lufthansa 480

Nick Benson - JetTip

A Lufthansa A380 departing MSP on August 6, 2025

DLH480, MUC-DEN, operated by D-AIMK, diverted into MSP due to a medical issue. Since this happened in the middle of the day, and was the first A380 visit to happen at MSP since JetTip launched, it was very well documented by the local spotting community. I was also fortunate to get a 15(!) minute interview on WCCO radio to discuss it.

• FlighAware inbound, outbound
• Twin Cities Aviator / YouTube
• MNCam / YouTube
• JV Planespotting / YouTube
• Michigan Plane Spotter / YouTube
• Caleb D / YouTube

May 31, 2026; Emirates 215

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

MSP's sixth visit of an A380, the first for an Emirates super in Minnesota. A6-EVF, Dubai - Los Angeles, dropped in for a medical diversion on May 31, 2026.

UAE215, DXB-LAX, operated by A6-EVF, diverted to Minneapolis on account of a medical issue. As the aircraft was over central Manitoba when it diverted, and it was a Sunday, the diversion was widely documented. The aircraft landed on 12R, and parked on the de-ice pads near the USPS/hotel parking ramp; the passenger was quickly removed via air stairs parked at the rear of the aircraft.

• FlightAware inbound, outbound
• MNCam / YouTube
• Avgeeks Nation / YouTube
• WCCO / YouTube

Nick Benson

Nick lives in Burnsville, Minnesota with his wife and three children. He grooves on railroad and aviation photography, politics, geography, weather, and LEGO. He started JetTip's smart flight alert service in 2017, and is now a full-time avgeek. He can frequently be found atop his Subaru at MSP's Aircraft Viewing Area.