Sovereign Airways Superjumbos | 747-8I, A380-800

On 9 April 2004, Sovereign Airways, trying to further its position as a world-class, luxury-focused brand, ordered 16 Airbus A380s. Originally due for delivery in 2009, problems within the airline caused Sovereign Airways to delay its first A380 delivery until mid-to-late-2013.

In 2014, Sovereign Airways announced a massive acquisition of struggling British luxury airline BritSky. As a part of the agreement, Sovereign Airways would acquire 60% of BritSky's fleet, including 10 Boeing 747-8 Intercontinentals that BritSky had received out of an order of 24. While the remaining 14 orders were distributed to other airlines, the 10 already in service were repainted and reconfigured into a typical Sovereign Airways configuration. These 747-8s were then put into service on routes already flown by the 747-400s (SV didn't have the A350-1000 on order at the time). This had a bonus effect; The 747-8 maintained cockpit commonality with the 747-400, meaning pilots that flew the 747-400 on the routes could seamlessly switch over to the -8, with only minimal training.

With the new 747-8s coming, Sovereign Airways also reduced their A380 order from 16 to 10, as many of the routes the A380 was going to fly would now be flown by the 747-8.

Sovereign Airways' 747-8 fleet mainly accompanies the A350-1000s and the outgoing 747-400s to destinations in North America, Asia and the Middle East. The A380 fleet flies similar routes, only to fewer destinations, such as New York, Los Angeles, Dubai and Hong Kong.

G-NBEA, the airline's first A380 was delivered in September 2013, and G-DFIA, the first 747-8 was delivered to the airline in March 2015. All Sovereign Airways A380s are named after cities in the Asia-Pacific region, with G-NBEC being named "Sydney". All 747-8s, and all 747s in general, quite fittingly for the Queen of the Skies, are named after members of the Royal Family. G-DFIA, the first 747-8, is named "King George VI", after the Royal Family member who was serving in 1942, when the airline was first founded. This plane also brought this name back to life after the 747-200B carrying it, and this registration, was retired in 1995.

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