Lufthansa Group’s fleet is currently undergoing a modernization, and in particular, the long haul fleet of the flagship Lufthansa brand is seeing the most updates. Unfortunately this hasn’t worked out nearly as smoothly as planned, between certification delays with the Boeing 777-9, and delivery delays with the Boeing 787-9.
The airline group has today unveiled an updated timeline for aircraft being retired. Those aviation geeks who love planes with four engines will want to pay attention, in particular.
In this post:
Lufthansa Group eliminating six types of long haul aircraft
Lufthansa Group is currently taking delivery of new Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 787-9s, and in the coming years, has plans to take delivery of new Airbus A350-1000s and Boeing 777-9s. With that in mind, the airline group also has plans to retire a variety of aircraft types.
Lufthansa Group plans to move from 13 wide body aircraft types today, to nine wide body aircraft types in 2030. Specifically:
- Lufthansa will retire its Airbus A340-600s in 2026
- Discover Airlines and ITA Airways will retire its Airbus A330-200s in 2026
- Austrian will retire its Boeing 767-300ERs in 2026
- Lufthansa will retire its Boeing 747-400s in 2027
- Lufthansa and SWISS will retire its Airbus A340-300s in 2027
- Austrian will retire its Boeing 777-200ERs in 2028
The goal is that by 2030, Lufthansa Group will have nine wide body aircraft types. This includes seven aircraft types that are already in service, plus two more new aircraft types. Here’s what has been confirmed so far, with the 2030 vision:
- Austrian Airlines will fly Boeing 787-9s
- Brussels Airlines will fly Airbus A330-300s
- Discover Airlines will fly Airbus A330-300s
- Edelweiss will fly Airbus A350-900s
- ITA Airways will fly Airbus A330-900neos and A350-900s
- Lufthansa will fly Airbus A350-900s, A350-1000s, Boeing 747-8s, 777-9s, and 787-9s
- SWISS will fly Airbus A330-300s, A350-900s, and Boeing 777-300ERs
As you can see, one wild card remains what the future holds for the Lufthansa Airbus A380, as the airline hasn’t yet decided what to do with that aircraft.
Let me also mention that Lufthansa Group orders planes centrally and then allocates them to individual airlines, and some planes that have been ordered haven’t yet been allocated. So there could be additional updates in the coming years, like SWISS possibly getting A350-1000s.
This is a sensible fleet strategy for Lufthansa Group
Lufthansa Group’s fleet simplification strategy makes sense. At least given the current complex state of the fleet, this seems like about as logical of a development as you could expect.
I will say, I’m of course sad to see all these four-engine planes retired, purely as someone who grew up flying these planes. At Lufthansa, we’ll lose the A340-600 in 2026, and the A340-300 and 747-400 in 2027. 
Two things stand out:
- The loss of first class capacity on the A340-600 is unfortunate in terms of awards, since these planes are being replaced by jets with Allegris cabins, where first class awards aren’t available
- With Lufthansa retiring the 747-400, there will be very few “classic” 747-400s left in service
Of course it makes perfect sense for all of these planes to be retired, given the operating costs of these four-engined jets. However, as an aviation geek, I am going to be very sad to see these aircraft retired.
The 747 is the queen of the skies, and the 747-400 reminds me so much of my childhood. On the plus side, Lufthansa is one of only three airlines to fly the 747-8, and the airline will be flying that jet for many years to come, well into the 2030s. So not all is lost, but there’s just something I find so charming about how “classic” the 747-400 feels on the inside.
In the case of the A340, Lufthansa is the world’s largest operator of the jet, and no other carrier’s fleet even comes close. Most of the other commercial A340s you see flying are for airlines that have sanctions in place against them, preventing them from buying new aircraft. These include airlines like Mahan Air, Conviasa, etc.
There’s just something fun about the adorably tiny engines of the A340-300 that make you wonder if you’ll get airborne before the end of the runway, plus the enormous length of the A340-600 “pencil” jet, along with the lavatories in the cargo hold.
Bottom line
Lufthansa Group has revealed its updated fleet simplification plans, and intends to retire six types of long haul aircraft by 2028. This includes retiring the A330-200, A340-600, and 767-300ER in 2026, the A340-300 and 747-400 in 2027, and the 777-200 in 2028.
As an aviation geek, I’ll certainly miss those four-engined planes leaving the Lufthansa fleet, but it’s logical for that to finally happen. I really do need to plan at least one more Lufthansa 747-400 flight, before those planes are retired.
What do you make of this Lufthansa Group fleet development?
They definitely have the most *interesting* widebody fleet!
I don't envy the logistics of trying to maintain and schedule that fleet, though...
We all have to move on. Yet wondering why the planes cannot be upgraded with lighter materials and New Engines to improve the Fuel Economy.
Maintenance maybe another issue if the Aircraft Manufacturer doesn’t support older Aircraft’s. Yes 747 is the beauty in the Sky. I still remember my first flight from Chicago to Detroit and the Detroit Basketball team was on the plane.
It's actually 5 types, if we're to be accurate with the language.
9 variants (different aircraft), but only 5 types (joint rating).
It might seem trivial, but whether or not aircraft are of the same type can have a significant financial impact on labor, operation, and training costs.
This leaves South African Airways as the last non-sanctioned scheduled passenger airline to use A340s
Ben, I'm guessing you were "someone who grew up flying ON these planes".
Also, you should update yesterday's article about Carl's flight Chicago to Hamburg via Rome. Eurowings is responsible for Carl to get EU 261 compensation, and your articles often come up first in any google search, so it would be useful if it was updated to be correct.
If you want to be super sure, happy to share the EU's official guidance on this -- just email me.
Anyone believe that LH will be flying 777-9s equipped with Allegris cabins by 2030?
Speaks volumes that it will take 5 years to get rid of excess mgmt staffing but they can park multiple airplane types in 2 to 3 years.
Commercial jets don’t have golden parachutes. Quicker process!
How competitive does the Lufthansa group need to be, given that they operate across multiple different markets? I'd assume Lufthansa and SWISS have enough corporate contracts and P2P traffic to stay afloat without much of a soft product investment, ITA is good enough as it is, Brussels will probably need a significant soft product upgrade to get attention amidst its limited route network, and Austrian will need a bit of branding help?
Also Discover...
How competitive does the Lufthansa group need to be, given that they operate across multiple different markets? I'd assume Lufthansa and SWISS have enough corporate contracts and P2P traffic to stay afloat without much of a soft product investment, ITA is good enough as it is, Brussels will probably need a significant soft product upgrade to get attention amidst its limited route network, and Austrian will need a bit of branding help?
Also Discover seems to be doing okay, but Edelweiss surely can't be scalable as it is?
Brussels Airlines route network is very unique - the strongest West African network of any European carrier. Probably not much competition to warrant an improvement in the soft product.
One can argue that the A350s along with the A330 can be lumped into one family.
The 77W/9 would be considered a separate family from a technical, maintenance, operational standpoint but should share the same pilot pool.
It just depends on how you look at things.
The A330 and A350 have very little in common from a maintenance standpoint
While Airbus says that pilots can be cross-certified across its product line, I am not sure that really works out or does for LH.
and part of LH's problem is that they have ordered some of everything both Airbus and Boeing produced and failed to let those models go when it became apparent those aircraft are no longer economically viable -...
The A330 and A350 have very little in common from a maintenance standpoint
While Airbus says that pilots can be cross-certified across its product line, I am not sure that really works out or does for LH.
and part of LH's problem is that they have ordered some of everything both Airbus and Boeing produced and failed to let those models go when it became apparent those aircraft are no longer economically viable - because many of those aircraft are still to young to retire w/o taking a pretty big accounting hit.
D'oh! I meant both the ceo and neo can be lumped into one family, not the A350 and A330 can be lumped together!
The a350 is directly developed from the a380 program not the older a330. Airbus often say that the best thing about the Superjumbo program is how much of it and the lessons learnt along the way, went into the 350 program.
"Lufthansa Group’s Plans To Simplify Long Haul Fleet By 2030, Cut Six Plane Types and Carsten Spohr" would have made a much much much more encouraging headline.
We can only dream...
PLAY has cancelled all flights and ceased operations.
Ben, you forgot to mention that Lufthansa will also eliminate 23 seat types.
@ Tom -- But I'm sure they'll introduce 24 new ones in the process, since customers love having choices!
Good one.
Ouch!
Since no mention is made of LH retiring the A380 (unless this was previously announced), will this fleet continue beyond 2030?
@ 767-223 -- It's undecided, as Lufthansa is waiting to see what it does with the A380. I imagine that will be determined based on demand levels plus if/when the 777-9 gets certified.
Sorry Ben, read it too fast. I now see you already wrote yet to be determined. Guess I should wait till I have my first cup of coffee before commenting!
@767-223 - Not unless anything has changed LH is still planning on retrofitting the A380 with new seats as from next year (not Allegris but Vantage XL if i remember correctly, basically the same business class seats you find on Qantas' A380s). The plan is to keep the planes flying till the mid-2030s.
Now, the heads at LH keep changing plans rather often. I mean, just this summer there were talks of retiring the A340-300...
@767-223 - Not unless anything has changed LH is still planning on retrofitting the A380 with new seats as from next year (not Allegris but Vantage XL if i remember correctly, basically the same business class seats you find on Qantas' A380s). The plan is to keep the planes flying till the mid-2030s.
Now, the heads at LH keep changing plans rather often. I mean, just this summer there were talks of retiring the A340-300 from December this year but it seems those are staying on till 2027. So let's see how it goes.
Do you think that this "no First awards on Allegris" policy will hold until 2027?
@ Dror -- I think it's likely that at some point it'll be opened up to some Miles & More members in some capacity (maybe to Senator members and above, at inflated pricing). However, I doubt we'll see it made available for partner awards, simply because there are only three seats...
Indeed. In the old days, certain airlines afforded greater award availability to those with tier status. We're seeing it coming back at a few airlines now. And, if that's the case, I'd rather opt for Air France if I'm traveling to Europe.
What will replace the 370 passenger capacity of the 747-400? The 290 seat 787-9 or 450 seat 777X ?
Will miss the 747-400 on the summer YVR/ FRA schedule. Glad to have flown on it a few times over the years.
No better sight to see at your boarding gate than a 747!
About time (and long overdue). Lufthansa is a mess. Old planes. Dated products. Allegris is complicated. All of the brands exude mediocrity.