Lufthansa Group is accelerating the modernization of its fleet. New, highly cost- and fuel-efficient aircraft are replacing older types on short-, medium-, and long-haul routes. As a result, the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has decided to buy ten long-haul aircraft: five Airbus A350-900s and five Boeing B787-9s. The Supervisory Board approved the purchase on May 3, 2021. As part of the long-standing fleet renewal program, a total of 175 new aircraft will be delivered to Lufthansa Group airlines this decade.
The investment in new aircraft is in line with the framework agreement between the Economic Stabilization Fund of the Federal Republic of Germany (WSF) and Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The investments are also in line with the Group’s policy of limiting annual capital expenditures to the level of depreciation and amortization and strictly focusing on increasing company value
Current plans call for an initial fleet reduction, while at the same time extensively modernizing it in the future. The Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900 will essentially replace the four-engine A340 long-haul aircraft as part of this process. Plans call for reducing the number of four-engine aircraft in the Lufthansa Group long-haul fleet to less than 15% by the middle of this decade; before the crisis, the share was around 50%. The aircraft purchases are accelerating the reduction of fleet complexity for more efficiency. The new, fuel-efficient aircraft will reduce operating costs by around 15% compared with the models they replace.
