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Lufthansa Monday said it would purchase five long-haul aircraft each from Airbus and Boeing to replace older Airbus A340 planes and increase its fleet's fuel efficiency. Top management and the non-executive board cleared the purchase of five Boeing B787-9 planes scheduled to come into service as early as next winter and in the first half of 2022 as well as five Airbus A350-900 planes for delivery in 2027 and 2028. The earlier start for the Boeing planes was possible as they had already been manufactured for other airlines that could not take delivery because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the travel industry. Lufthansa said the new aircraft will consume about 2.5 liters of jet fuel per passenger and 100 km flown, about 30% less than many current as well as previously operated long-haul aircraft models.<br/>

Air travel has come a long way over the last five decades. Before COVID-19, destinations increasingly became more accessible, with many just a single direct flight away. That wasn't the case in 1976 when Singapore Airlines first began operating a service in and out of New Zealand. Air travel has come a long way over the last five decades. Before COVID-19, destinations increasingly became more accessible, with many just a single direct flight away. That wasn't the case in 1976 when Singapore Airlines first began operating a service in and out of New Zealand. In that first year, just 30,000 New Zealanders visited Singapore, while in 2015 that number grew to more than 125,000 - an increase of more than 400%. Auckland was added to the airline's Australia services, with flights operating to and from Sydney using a Boeing 707 fan-jet under the flight number SQ766. The popularity of the route grew quickly and within just two years the twice-weekly service included a weekly direct flight from Singapore to Auckland operated on a DC-10. Then just two years after that, the airline unleashed its then flagship aircraft on its New Zealand-bound services, the Boeing 747. In the decades that followed, Singapore Airlines grew its operations in Aotearoa to the point where it was flying into Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, operating 26 weekly flights between New Zealand and Singapore until 2020 when the pandemic hit.<br/>