Lufthansa loves to name its aircraft after places and cities. Well, the airline will name its first upcoming Boeing 787-9 after the German capital – “Berlin”.
Ich heiße Berlin! – Lufthansa Boeing 787-9, Rendering Lufthansa,
The naming ceremony is set to take place following the delivery of the aircraft next year.
“Berlin” is the first of five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners” that Lufthansa will add to its fleet in 2022. The ultra-modern long-haul aircraft consume on average only 2.5 litres of kerosene per passenger and 100 kilometres flown.
Since 1960, Lufthansa has had a tradition of naming its aircraft after German cities. Willy Brandt, West Germany’s Chancellor in the late 1960s and 70s, honoured Lufthansa during his tenure as Mayor of West Berlin (1957–1966) by naming the airline’s first Boeing 707 “Berlin”. More recently, an Airbus A380 with the registration identifier D-AIMI bore the prestigious name of Germany’s capital.
The first Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 – “Berlin” – will be registered D-ABPA. The first scheduled intercontinental destination for Lufthansa’s 787-9 will be Toronto, Canada’s financial centre and hub, from Frankurt.
But still a lack of long-haul flights out of Berlin
Whilst Lufthansa has been nice about its commitment to naming an aircraft, making Berlin work for long-haul traffic has been a challenge for Lufthansa.
The last attempts were with Lufthansa and Eurowings, operating a service to New York. Currently, non-stop long haul services are limited out of Berlin, with Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and Scoot (Athens and Singapore), with the airline preferring to use its existing hubs at Munich and Frankfurt.
Will we see if Lufthansa sees if there are any long haul markets to return to – or if it deems that it wants its passengers to connect to 260 destinations worldwide – either by a short-haul flight or connecting via one of its hubs (bearing in mind Lufthansa only serves two destinations out of Berlin with its flagship brand – whilst Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines operate to their hubs. The majority of the flying is done by Eurowings…)
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