Lufthansa has ordered 80 new short- and medium-haul aircraft with Boeing and Airbus. These include 40 Airbus A220-300 aircraft and 40 Boeing 737-8 Max.

The German airline group is also taking an option on 120 additional aircraft. The group itself calls it the most extensive fleet modernization in its history. The aircraft will be delivered between 2026 and 2032, and the order carries a price tag of 8,2 billion euros.

Joining forces with Boeing again

This is the first time since 1995 that Lufthansa, the parent company of Brussels Airlines and others, has again bought aircraft from US-based Boeing. It is a firm order for 40 737-8 airplanes with an option for 60 others.

“Around 60 years ago, Lufthansa was co-developer and launch customer of this globally successful model,” said Carsten Spohr, chairman and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “With the new modern, quiet, economical, and efficient 737-8 aircraft, we are making progress in modernizing our short- and medium-haul fleet and achieving our carbon CO2 reduction targets.”

The 737 Max reduces CO2 emissions by 20% and has a 50% smaller noise footprint than older-generation airplanes.

Greening of fleet

Until now, all Lufthansa brands flew Airbus copies. Lufthansa also placed a billion-dollar order with that European aircraft manufacturer, namely 40 A220-300s – as recently as October, the company received their 600th aircraft from Airbus.

The A220-300 can carry between 120 to 150 passengers on flights of up to 6 300 km, and it offers 25% lower fuel burn and CO2 emissions per seat compared to previous-generation aircraft.

The A220 is intended for use by the new Lufthansa City Airlines on short routes from Frankfurt and Munich. Lufthansa did not specify which routes or exit groups it would use for the Boeing 737 Max.

Bumper year

By the end of November, Airbus had received 849 orders from 31 customers for the A220, of which 303 were delivered. The A220 is already in successful service with 18 airlines worldwide on more than 1 350 routes. A total of 2 00o aircraft have been ordered from Airbus this year, among others from Air France-KLM and Indian low-cost airline IndiGo.

At rival Boeing, 1 200 aircraft were on the order book. The Bloomberg financial news agency writes that the manufacturers are virtually sold out for the next decade. Airlines expect to carry 4,7 billion passengers next year, a historic record.

According to the latest Cirium Fleet Forecast, around 44 500 new planes, worth 2,9 trillion dollars, will be needed to meet the expected rise in passenger traffic over the next two decades.

Lufthansa flies on a pink cloud

The two orders involve 9 billion dollars, or 8,2 billion euros, at list price. However, the actual price paid by airlines after negotiations is usually lower.

Lufthansa has a fleet of more than 700 commercial aircraft and aims to halve its net CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 and be carbon neutral by 2050.

Lufthansa posted the second-best profit in its history in the third quarter. The net profit of 1,2 billion euros made from July to September, up 47% year-on-year, was only anticipated in 2017 during the bankruptcy of the competing company Air Berlin.