Lufthansa orders Boeing 787s and A350s

Lufthansa Group has been rather busy today, putting in an order for new aircraft with both Boeing and Airbus.

Lufthansa Boeing 787 Dreamliner – Image – Lufthansa 

Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 – Image, Lufthansa

The group will be swapping four-engined aircraft out for twin-engined aircraft, with theorder is split down the middle – with 20 Airbus A350-900 and 20 Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

These aircraft will be delivered between late 2022 and 2027. It is undecided which bases the new aircraft will be assigned to. Which could be intrested based on the rendering Lufthansa Group supplied below

New Boeing 787s in Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian liveries – Image, Lufthansa

At list price, this would be an order for US $12 Billion. And if you think they’re paying that…

As is usual with such orders, Lufthansa Group has negotiated a significant price reduction. The parties have agreed not to disclose the actual purchase price.

The airline is a midst of a fleet renewal at the moment, with Airbus A350s coming on-line at Munich, and the upcoming Boeing 777-9 joining the fleet in 2020.

However, it’s not so good news for the Airbus A380 fleet, with six of the fourteen strong A380 fleet leaving Lufthansa from 2022, being brought by Airbus, as part of the long haul fleet restructure the group is going through.

In quotes

Carsten Spohr, CEO and Chairman of Lufthansa Group states:

“By replacing four-engine planes with new models, we are laying a sustainable foundation for our future in the long run. In addition to the cost-effectiveness of the A350 and B787, the significantly lower CO2 emissions of this new generation of long-haul aircraft was also a decisive factor in our investment decision. Our responsibility for the environment is becoming more and more important as a criterion for our decisions,”

Reducing complexity, reducing engine count and reducing cost

By making the purchase the airline stands to take up to seven types of planes out of service, over the next few years – reducing costs in terms of parts, training, crewing and moving towards consistently managed fleets.
Which with a fleet of 199 long haul aircraft is an important thing to keep track of.

Also, they will be reducing the fuel bill these engines run up. And reducing costs is one of the ways to stay ahead in the airline industry – especially when it comes to variable costs like fuel.

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