Lufthansa Group places order for 22 Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft

Lufthansa Group has announced that it has placed an order for 22 wide-body aircraft from two aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing.

Lufthansa order

Lufthansa has placed an order for the following aircraft:

• 10 Airbus A350-1000d
• 5 Airbus A350-900s
• 7 Boeing B787-9s

These aircraft will be delivered mid-2020s onwards. The order is worth a total of $7.5 billion based on the list prices. The order was approved by the Supervisory Board of parent company Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The group says that it is in “advanced negotiations” to acquire further long-haul aircraft which could be made available at shorter notice.

With our purchase of 22 further Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s, we have secured the delivery of more than 50 latest-generation long-haul aircraft for the member airlines of the Lufthansa Group since the pandemic began. These aircraft will be equipped with our new long-haul cabins, including the latest-generation seats in all classes of travel. And the combination of our superb employees on the ground and on board, these highly advanced aircraft and our latest seating product on board will position our airlines well to the fore again within the premium segment. These new aircraft will also play a decisive role in helping us achieve our carbon emission reduction goals by 2030 as fuel-efficient aircraft which incorporate the latest manufacturing technology are by far the greatest lever for providing more climate protection within the aviation sector.

said Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Long-haul fleet renewal

Lufthansa is currently in the process of renewing its fleet. Including this order, the Lufthansa Group will take delivery of 108 long-haul aircraft such as the Airbus A350-1000, the Airbus A350-900, the Boeing B787-9 and the Boeing B777-9 over the next few years.

The group will use these new aircraft to replace the older ones. In the medium-term future, six such subfleets will be taken out of service:

• Boeing B747-400s, which fly for Lufthansa
• Boeing B777-200s, which fly for Austrian
• Boeing B767-300s, which fly for Austrian
• Airbus A340-600s, which fly for Lufthansa
• Airbus A340-300s, which fly for Lufthansa, SWISS and Edelweiss Air
• Airbus A330-200s, which fly for both Edelweiss Air and Eurowings Discover

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It’s natural that the new 108 long-haul aircraft scheduled to be delivered will be divided among the Lufthansa Group airlines. SWISS has confirmed that it will take delivery of 5 Airbus A350-900s while it is rumoured that Austrian might get Boeing B787 Dreamliners.

The phasing out of these older jets will reduce the quadjet contingent within the Lufthansa Group fleet to under 15%: prior to the pandemic, quadjets made up some 50% of the groupwide aircraft fleet.

In total, and including the advanced short- and medium-haul aircraft of the Airbus A320neo family, the Lufthansa Group currently has over 200 firm orders for new aircraft of the latest generation which will be delivered over the next few years. To be honest, the 200+ number seems very small to me, given the scale of the Lufthansa Group. I personally think that the group will continue to place small orders in the future or place one large order, just like Air India’s historic 470 aircraft order.

In addition to the agreement on the purchase of the new aircraft, Airbus and Lufthansa have also signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ to further strengthen their cooperation in the field of sustainability and future technologies. This includes the intensified use of sustainable aviation fuels, the further optimization of operations through a more efficient flight management and exploration into the use of hydrogen.

About the new aircraft

It will be the first time that the A350-1000 aircraft will be used by the Lufthansa Group. It offers approximately 15% more capacity than the Airbus A350-900. Lufthansa Group says that these A350-1000s would be deployed in premium-heavy markets. These aircraft will feature a First Class cabin, signalling that the aircraft will either go to Lufthansa or SWISS, given that these two are the only airlines in the Lufthansa Group to offer a First Class cabin. If it goes to Lufthansa, it will feature the new Allegris First Class cabin.

Lufthansa already operates 21 A350-900 aircraft. With the five aircraft ordered today, the Lufthansa Group will now take delivery of 33 A350-900s.

3 Boeing B787-9s are currently flying for Lufthansa. With this order, 36 further B787-9s will join the Group fleet over the next few years.

Featured image by Lufthansa

What do you think of Lufthansa ordering additional A350s and B787s, particularly the -1000 variant of the former? Let me know in the comments section below.

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