Lufthansa Group has announced that it purchased five more Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, taking its total order book to 15. The German airline group has not detailed which airline will receive the new aircraft, with 
Lufthansa
, ITA Airways, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), and Edelweiss Air, a subsidiary of SWISS, already operating or awaiting delivery of A350-900 aircraft.
Expanding A350-1000 order book
Lufthansa Group
said that with its latest order, taking its total A350 aircraft family order book – not backlog – to 75, split between 60 A350-900 and 15 A350-1000
, it is one of the largest customers of the aircraft type globally.
The five A350-1000s will be delivered between 2028 and 2030, while Airbus will begin deliveries of the ten A350-1000 aircraft that it purchased in March 2023 in April 2026.
Photo: Lufthansa
Carsten Sphor, the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Lufthansa Group, said that today’s order underscored the group’s confidence in its long-standing partnership with Airbus. The state-of-the-art A350
aircraft will help the group accelerate its fleet modernization plan, which is the largest in its history.
“We are investing more than ever before in our history to make air transport more sustainable, to achieve our CO₂ reduction targets and at the same time offer our customers the highest level of comfort with a first-class travel experience.”
Spoh noted that the five A350-1000 orders have grown its total Airbus order book to 770 aircraft, with Lufthansa Group becoming the European plane maker’s largest customer worldwide.
“With the upcoming integration of ITA Airways
in January, the Airbus fleet of Lufthansa Group Airlines will grow by another 100 short- and long-haul aircraft.”
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ITA Airways is planning to serve up to six destinations in the US during the upcoming summer season.
Replacing quad jets
Lufthansa Group emphasized that while it has around 740 commercial aircraft in its fleet, it has pursued a long-term fleet strategy focused on quality, cost efficiency, and sustainability. With the latest order, it now has 250 aircraft on order, 100 of which are the latest-generation widebodies.
“In the medium term, the highly efficient twin-engine long-haul jets are slated to replace four-engine aircraft types that are gradually being phased out. These include the Boeing 747-400
, Airbus A340-600, and Airbus A340-300 aircraft types.”
Lufthansa and ITA Airways, which will be integrated into the group in January 2025, operate 34 A350-900
aircraft, ch-aviation data showed. The site’s records also indicated that SWISS
and Edelweiss Air will add ten and six A350-900 aircraft, respectively.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
On August 13, Edelweiss Air
said that its first A350-900, which at the time was in a hangar at Shannon Airport
(SNN) in Ireland, will join the airline’s fleet in spring 2025.
Meanwhile, on December 5, in addition to saying that it will double its incoming A350-900 fleet from five to ten aircraft, SWISS detailed that it will add its first aircraft of the type in the summer of 2025.
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Doubling Down: SWISS To Take 5 More Airbus A350-900s Bringing Total To 10
SWISS has added to its existing orderbook for five Airbus A350s, bringing the total commitment to 10.
A350-1000 sales momentum
Throughout 2024, more airlines have begun favoring the A350-1000, which previously was relatively underlooked when compared to its more minor brother, the A350-900.
Airbus
orders and delivery filings showed that at the end of 2023, the A350-900 had 904 gross orders, while the A350-1000 had 252 gross orders, or a split of 78.2% and 21.79%.
By the end of November, Airbus had secured a total of 1290 gross orders for the A350 aircraft family, split between 988 A350-900 (76.5%) and 302 A350-1000 (23.4%) purchase agreements. While the gap is still quite wide, it has closed.
Photo: Skycolors | Shutterstock
Throughout December, Airbus has announced several A350 orders, including two A350-900s from Aircalin, five A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft each from Air India, and most recently, China Airlines
bought ten A350-1000s on December 20.
Year-to-date (YTD), Airbus has secured 84 and 50 net orders for the A350-900 and A350-1000, respectively, as shown in its commercial filings.
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China Airlines disclosed that the total transaction sum would be no more than $11.85 billion.
