Lufthansa Group has expanded its Boeing 737 MAX order by exercising options for 20 aircraft of the largest variant, the 737 MAX 10. The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has approved the purchase, bringing the Group’s total firm order for the 737 MAX family to 60 aircraft.

The additional 20 aircraft originate from the package of purchase options secured at the end of 2023, when Lufthansa Group ordered 40 Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft and obtained options for a further 60 aircraft from the same family. Following the latest decision, the Group retains options for another 40 aircraft. Deliveries of the 737 MAX 10 are scheduled to begin in the early 2030s.

Lufthansa Group has not yet announced which airline will operate the newly ordered 737 MAX 10s, stating only that the aircraft are intended to gradually replace older Airbus A320 family aircraft across the Group. However, it is expected that they could also become part of the Eurowings fleet, which has already been allocated all 40 previously ordered 737-8 MAX aircraft. The first examples of that variant are expected to arrive in 2027, with all 40 aircraft scheduled to be delivered by 2032.

Eurowings has meanwhile taken another step in its preparations for the introduction of the new aircraft type. In June, the airline confirmed that its Boeing 737-8 MAX fleet will be placed on the AOC of its Maltese subsidiary, Eurowings Europe Limited. This means the aircraft will be registered in Malta, while the final route deployment has yet to be determined.

Such an allocation would also fit with the increasingly clear segmentation of narrowbody fleets among Lufthansa Group airlines. While the Boeing 737 MAX has been assigned to Eurowings, the Airbus A220-300 is intended for Lufthansa City Airlines, which is gradually taking over a larger share of feeder traffic to the Group’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs. The first A220-300, future registration D-ACAA and manufacturer serial number 55501, is currently in production at Airbus’ Mirabel facility, with delivery to Lufthansa City Airlines planned for November 2026. The Group has ordered a total of 40 A220-300s for the airline, with options for a further 20.

Given the existing decision to make the 737-8 MAX a key part of Eurowings’ future fleet renewal, assigning the larger 737 MAX 10 to the same carrier would represent a logical continuation of the current strategy and would allow Eurowings to retain commonality within the same aircraft family. However, Lufthansa Group has not yet officially confirmed the future operator of the newly ordered MAX 10s.

The Boeing 737 MAX 10 is the largest variant of the 737 MAX family and offers greater seating capacity than the 737-8. Lufthansa Group says the aircraft will consume around 30 percent less fuel than the older aircraft it is intended to replace, while its higher seating capacity is expected to reduce unit costs by approximately 20 percent.

The latest order for 20 aircraft has a list value of around USD 3.4 billion. It forms part of Lufthansa Group’s wider fleet modernization program, under which the airline group expects to take delivery of more than 250 new aircraft by 2035.