The Lufthansa Group is ordering 80 new short- and medium-haul aircraft with an additional 120 purchase options.
In a press release, Lufthansa reported that it had ordered:
– 40 Airbus A220-300 and 20 purchase options
– 40 Boeing 737-8 MAX and 60 purchase options
– The possibility of purchasing an additional 40 aircraft from the A320 family
The Supervisory Board approved the acquisition yesterday.
dr. Detlef Kayser, Member of the Executive Committee, Fleet and Technology, said: “With today’s aircraft order, we are accelerating the largest fleet modernization in our company’s history. This increases our order list from around 200 aircraft to 280 – plus an additional 120 purchase options for further state-of-the-art short- and medium-haul aircraft. We are pleased that both Airbus and Boeing have been able to convince us of all commercial and technological aspects. In addition, the decision for the Boeing 737-8 MAX will also give us more flexibility for short-haul aircraft procurement in the future and medium-haul. The new ultra-modern aircraft provides our guests with added comfort. They are also quieter, more economical, more efficient, and emit up to 30 percent less CO2 than their predecessors. The order demonstrates our airlines’ future sustainability and ability to invest, and demonstrates that we are living up to our responsibility for reducing carbon emissions.”
Lufthansa’s decision to acquire Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft comes as a kind of surprise because after leaving the older 737-300 and 737-500 fleet, the carrier’s policy was to focus the fleet on the Airbus A320/320neo family of aircraft. Lufthansa was the first customer (Launch Customer) for the Boeing 737-100 in 1968. Throughout its history, Lufthansa has had all Boeing classic 737 series aircraft (-100, -200, -300, -400, and -500) in its fleet, the last of which left the fleet in 2016. Popularly called Bobby, Lufthansa’s 737 series aircraft served almost half a century.
Lufthansa’s order is valued around USD 9 billion at list prices.
