While airlines have shifted much of their attention to smaller planes in expectation of a slow recovery of passenger traffic—although early indications are that it may not be as slow as anticipated—Lufthansa has just put in orders for ten large planes to update its fleet.
The orders were announced simultaneously for five Airbus A350-900s and five Boeing 787-9s. It’s also awaiting delivery of a number of 777-9s, usually referred to as 777x. The planes will mostly replace Lufthansa’s least efficient big planes, the A340s, a four-engine model that is gone from almost all fleets.
Lufthansa has been clearing older and less efficient models from its own fleet and those of its Austrian, Swiss and Belgian subsidiaries. The 747-400s are gone, the A340s are going and the A380s will not return; before the pandemic, 50% of Lufthansa Group’s long-haul fleet were four-engine planes. Soon only the newer 747-8 will remain. A number of twin-engine models are going also; by the end of the decade, the A330-200, 777-200 and 767-300 will be gone.
And in other A380 news, Malaysia Airlines is joining the queue at the exit. CEO Isham Ismail told Reuters that “We are cognizant of the challenges to sell this aeroplane, but we are still looking at ways and means to dispose of our 380 fleet. At the moment, the management is convinced that the 380 doesn’t fit the future plan.” Malaysia tried to sell its six in 2015, but with no takers it shifted to a plan, never carried out, to refit them as one-class 700-seaters.
