Last year, Lufthansa Group placed an order for 10 Airbus A350-1000s, in addition to some other wide body aircraft. The airline group has just increased that aircraft order by 50%, to 15 jets. Reading between the lines, it sure seems like the jets are now going to both Lufthansa and SWISS, so let’s go over the details.
In this post:
Lufthansa Group orders more wide body jets
Back in March 2023, Lufthansa Group placed an order for an additional 22 jets with Airbus and Boeing, worth $7.5 billion at list prices. This deal included the following:
- 10 Airbus A350-1000s; this was the first time Lufthansa Group had ordered these
- Five Airbus A350-900s; Lufthansa Group already has 28 of these in its fleet, and has 26 on order
- Seven Boeing 787-9s; Lufthansa Group already has five of these in its fleet, and has 34 on order
The latest update is that as of December 2024, Lufthansa Group has topped up its A350-1000 order with an additional five of these aircraft, so the company now has firm orders for 15 A350-1000s.
In total, Lufthansa now has nearly 100 new wide body aircraft on order, including the A350-900, A350-1000, 787-9, and 777-9. Lufthansa Group expects to take delivery of its first A350-1000 in April 2026, and all 15 of the planes should be delivered by 2030.
It’s important to keep in mind that these orders are for Lufthansa Group overall, rather than necessarily specifically for Lufthansa. Some of these jets will be going to Austrian and SWISS.
A350-1000s will fly for Lufthansa, maybe SWISS
What does Lufthansa Group plan to do with its 15 Airbus A350-1000s? We know that the plan is for the first 10 A350-1000s to be based in Munich, and for them to complement A350-900s. Furthermore, all A350-1000s are expected to feature first class, and will be flown in premium heavy markets. Here’s to hoping that A350-1000s get two rows of Lufthansa’s new first class, rather than just one.
But what about the latest A350-1000s that have been ordered? What I find interesting is that in 2023, when the first order for 10 of the jets was placed, the renderings were in the Lufthansa livery. With this latest order, Lufthansa Group is simply providing renderings in the generic Airbus livery.
So that suggests to me that Lufthansa Group might not plan on putting those five extra jets with Lufthansa. The logical conclusion would be that maybe five A350-1000s end up flying for SWISS, as the carrier’s new flagship aircraft. When it comes to new aircraft, we know that SWISS is getting at least 10 new A350-900s, which will be delivered starting in 2025.
I imagine Lufthansa Group is intentionally leaving some flexibility as of now, since those five deliveries will happen between 2028 and 2030, so who knows what the fleet situation looks like at that point, in terms of delivery delays. After all, the 777-9 has been delayed by at least six years, and counting.
How Lufthansa Group’s long haul fleet will evolve
With Lufthansa having so many new aircraft on order, what exactly is the plan for fleet modernization? The intent is that the airline group will retire six subfleets in the coming years, including:
- Boeing 747-400s, which fly for Lufthansa
- Boeing 777-200s, which fly for Austrian
- Boeing 767-300s, which fly for Austrian
- Airbus A330-200s, which fly for Edelweiss and Discover Airlines
- Airbus A340-300s, which fly for both Lufthansa and SWISS
- Airbus A340-600s, which fly for Lufthansa
None of this should come as much of a surprise. We know that in the future, Lufthansa will focus on A350s, 787s, and 777-9s, SWISS will focus on A330s, A350s, and 777s, Austrian will focus on 787s, Edelweiss will focus on A350s, and Discover Airlines will focus on A330-300s.
Bottom line
Lufthansa Group has quite a few aircraft on order, and the airline group has just upped its order for Airbus A350-1000s by 50%, from 10 jets to 15 jets. We know that the first 10 A350-1000s will fly for Lufthansa and will be based in Munich. Only time will tell what happens with the remaining five jets, though it sounds like they might fly for SWISS.
While the number of planes that Lufthansa Group has on order sounds impressive, actually getting them into service is proving much more challenging (as we’re seeing with Lufthansa’s 787s).
What do you make of Lufthansa Group’s A350-1000 order?
Ah. Now it all makes sense. That cup of coffee that costs a dollar will purchase new planes. LOL That's a lot of cups of coffee to buy a new plane. LMAO
What is ITA getting? My money is on a fleet of A320s that can hop over the Alps and feed into LHG's German-speaking hubs.
Also, what happens to the 747-8s?
As always, Brussels will get nothing — and I suspect ITA will get nothing either. In fairness, ITA has a heck of a lot of new Airbus planes: the A220-100 and -300, the A320neo and A321neo, the A330-900neo and the A350-900. It will be ages before Brussels (or Aer Lingus) operates a widebody aircraft other than the A330 — and even then it’s likely...
As always, Brussels will get nothing — and I suspect ITA will get nothing either. In fairness, ITA has a heck of a lot of new Airbus planes: the A220-100 and -300, the A320neo and A321neo, the A330-900neo and the A350-900. It will be ages before Brussels (or Aer Lingus) operates a widebody aircraft other than the A330 — and even then it’s likely to be the even older A340.
Starlux is the only other airline I can think of with so many new Airbus planes, but the A321neo is its only narrowbody, and the A220 is known to be successful only in North America and Europe, not Asia.
Brussels Airlines A330s are already in bad shape. You are guaranteed to find at least 2-3 J seats blocked off on every flight because of an issue with the seat. I avoid them like the plague even though I live in Brussels.
Broken seat are the least of your worries with Brussels airlines. It's the crew you should be worried about.
Aer Lingus has its shiny new A321XLRs
Wouldn't it have been a good idea for Lufthansa to have ordered end of the line 77Ws while they wait for the 777X mess to get sorted out?! I mean they already operate 77Fs (through cargo). They could have retired the 744s already like everyone else if they had 77Ws.
Anyone who advocates for the retirement of the Queen should be banned from commenting on this blog.
/s
@NateNate
Hail the Queen!
Clever planning. A day after it got out that Allegris on the B789 is dead then positive news so people might forget the drama that is Allegris.
Anyone that thinks that Airbus is not benefiting from Boeing’s problems is in denial
This is ridiculous. Everyone knows the real party benefiting from Boeing's problems is Delta.
dimwit,
Delta IS the largest Airbus operator in the world.
So they have that going for them.
and Airbus does a pretty good job of delivering jets to Delta on time.
There's no question.
Correct. However, LH not seeing that the various versions of the Allegris seats received certification is *ultimately* on LH and not Boeing. The seats were perhaps better named Patiens.
Who has ever suggested Airbus is not benefitting from Boeing's issues?
Per usual, Tim, you seem to be creating a false pillar to get angry about and then trying to accuse imaginary people of being in denial.
Who has ever suggested Airbus is not benefitting from Boeing's issues?
the only thing that is "per usual" is that
1. you have a compulsive need to jump into any discussion in which I participate
2. you take the same ideas that I present and create a platform based on lies just so you can argue (who said anything about anger?)
3. You resort to personal attacks when you invariably lose the...
Who has ever suggested Airbus is not benefitting from Boeing's issues?
the only thing that is "per usual" is that
1. you have a compulsive need to jump into any discussion in which I participate
2. you take the same ideas that I present and create a platform based on lies just so you can argue (who said anything about anger?)
3. You resort to personal attacks when you invariably lose the business discussion.
Of course LH is ordering more A350s to hedge its bets against further 777X delays. Most global airlines are well into strategies to offset Boeing's production and certification issues. AA and UA are by far the largest airlines that have been unable to meaningfully offset Boeing's delays with new orders that come close to offsetting Boeing delivery delays.
LH operates a complex fleet because of the money it generates from servicing so many types of aircraft and engines - similar to DL. LH already ordered the 350 and is simply adding on to those orders.
It really isn't hard to see but I will bet my last dollar that Max will feel a need to jump in and argue.
what a predictable response from you, Tim.
You make a fake claim, then accuse your imaginary accusers of being in denial. Then when asked who's ever suggested that Airbus is NOT benefitting from Boeing's issues, you go on your usual dumb attacks against me because you realized you said something stupid with no backup and got called out on it.
And personal attacks? lol. funny after reading the way you reply to me. But...
what a predictable response from you, Tim.
You make a fake claim, then accuse your imaginary accusers of being in denial. Then when asked who's ever suggested that Airbus is NOT benefitting from Boeing's issues, you go on your usual dumb attacks against me because you realized you said something stupid with no backup and got called out on it.
And personal attacks? lol. funny after reading the way you reply to me. But I'm always happy to remind others how delta fired you and multiple websites have banned you.
You desperately need attention from unknown strangers and turn angry when you're reminded of your own sad past.
But again. Who has ever suggested Airbus is NOT benefitting from Boeing's issues? Of course Airbus is benefitting from them.
You'd do better to just apologize for a stupid statement and creating a fake anger pillar that doesn't exist.
But, as always, I'm flattered by the amount of time you take to reply to me ;)
Wishing everybody the best for the holidays.
Peace on the interwebs would be wonderful
They really needed to do this. The 779 orders are not sufficient and the 747-400 fleet has to be replaced along with many A330-300s and the remaining A340s. The 747-8s will probably leave as well or convert to freighters.
"The 747-8s will probably leave as well or convert to freighters."
Very doubtful that any will ever be converted. Who's going to pay for a conversion certification, with so few passenger models to spread the cost of doing so over? Remember that Korean has already pre-sold several of theirs to the US government.
More than likely, passenger 747-8 units will either be flown for the duration of their service life because they're such odd...
"The 747-8s will probably leave as well or convert to freighters."
Very doubtful that any will ever be converted. Who's going to pay for a conversion certification, with so few passenger models to spread the cost of doing so over? Remember that Korean has already pre-sold several of theirs to the US government.
More than likely, passenger 747-8 units will either be flown for the duration of their service life because they're such odd balls (similar to the 767-400), or they'll be sold as VIP jets, or scrapped early to gain common parts for the existing freighters out there.
Delivered just in time for the Allegris seats getting certified, or maybe not!? Really, how is Carsten Spohr still in a job?
450 seats in Y