Lufthansa to expand fleet with more Airbus aircraft

Incremental orders to be placed for A380, A330 and A320 families
29 September 2011 Press Release

Lufthansa’s Supervisory Board has approved the purchase of additional Airbus aircraft. The aircraft comprise two A380s, four A320s and one A330-300. These additional orders reflect the strong demand across Lufthansa’s network for an efficient family of aircraft.

Nico Buchholz, Executive Vice President Lufthansa Group Fleet Management said: "I am delighted that this additional order will enable us to secure the development of our short, medium and long-haul fleets. It is the next logical step in our strategy of ongoing fleet modernisation with regard to fuel efficiency, operating costs, noise and emissions."

“We are pleased that Lufthansa is coming back to order more Airbus aircraft across our product families,” said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers. He adds: “In particular, the order for two additional A380s is a testimony to the outstanding performance, efficiency and passenger appeal which the type has already proven in service with the airline.”

Today the Lufthansa Group is the biggest Airbus operator worldwide with more than 368 Airbus aircraft currently in service. These include: 258 A320 Family; 37 A330s; 65 A340s; and eight A380s. With this latest order for seven aircraft, the Lufthansa Group has an order backlog which includes 85 A320 Family aircraft, nine A330s, and nine A380s.

Airbus is the leading aircraft manufacturer offering the most modern and eco-efficient aircraft families. Spanning 100 to 220 seats for our ‘Single-Aisle’ A320 family, 220 to 400 seats for ‘Long-Range’ (A330/A340/A350), to over 500 seats for the A380, all feature similar flight decks and handling characteristics. This commonality across the Airbus product line enables the multi-qualification of pilots and reduced pilot training times, while bringing significant cost savings through streamlined operational procedures.