Lufthansa tops up Airbus long-range order to help renew fleet

Lufthansa agreed to buy five more Airbus SE A350-1000 long-range aircraft in a deal valued at about E2b at list price, as it retires older planes and awaits delivery of delayed models from Boeing Co. The additional aircraft will be delivered between 2028 and 2030, Lufthansa said in a statement on Friday. They will complement the 10 units that the carrier has already ordered of Airbus’s largest plane, cementing the German company’s status as the planemaker’s largest operator worldwide. Lufthansa needs more long-range planes because the company still relies on older models like the Airbus A340 and the Boeing 747 jumbo for some international routes. While the company has also ordered modern planes from Boeing, Lufthansa has suffered holdups on those models, with more than 10 of its completed 787 Dreamliners still awaiting delivery because of seat certification issues, and the larger 777X not yet in commercial service. “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,” Lufthansa said. “These include the Boeing 747-400, Airbus A340-600 and Airbus A340-300 aircraft types.” <br/>