Lufthansa A350 becomes flying research lab

Together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the German airline Lufthansa is transforming its Airbus A350-900 into a climate research aircraft from 2024. For the first time, scientists from the Lufthansa Group successfully tested the measuring probe system in flight after attaching it to the bottom fuselage of the A350. In the airspace above southern Germany, Lufthansa pilots finished a flight programme planned with the certification authorities. Following this will be routine passenger flights in 2024 and the Airbus will gather thorough climatic data for the European research infrastructure IAGOS-CARIBIC. The Lufthansa company has been committed to climate research since 1994 and has since equipped several long-haul aircraft with special measuring instruments, which include the IAGOS-CARIBIC. “We want to make flying more sustainable,” said Jens Ritter, Lufthansa Airlines CEO. “That is why we have been supporting climate research for decades. Our aim is to make a valuable contribution to climate research. The data that our aircraft will collect worldwide in the future will help to improve today’s atmospheric and climate models and thus their informative value for the future climate on earth”.<br/>