Lufthansa Group has placed an order for a total of 17 Boeing long-haul aircraft, the German company announced on Monday.
This latest order consists of seven additional Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner as well as seven 777-8F and three 777F for air freight subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo.
The airline says the 787 aircraft are intended to compensate for the delay of the new Boeing 777-9. Its first 777-9 of the yet-to-be-certified 777X-generation was supposed to be delivered in 2023 but has been delayed again to 2025. All seven newly ordered 787 were originally destined for other airlines and will be delivered to Lufthansa from 2025. Furthermore, some existing orders of the company will move forward to 2023 and 2024, accelerating Lufthansa’s 787 delivery schedule.
Lufthansa Cargo will receive three additional current-generation Boeing 777F freighters, “to take advantage of near-term market opportunities“, according to the company. The first of the three is a second hand aircraft, already set to arrive in the coming weeks. The other two factory-new jets will follow at a later time. Seven next-generation 777-8F will also join Lufthansa Cargo’s fleet from 2027. The cargo variant of the new 777X was launched by aircraft manufacturer Boeing earlier this year, with Qatar Airways being launch customer.
The German passenger airline is yet to take delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. With this new announcement, it now has a total of 32 787-9 on order. Lufthansa Cargo currently operates an all-777F fleet of eleven aircraft. One Airbus A321P2F is operated by Lufthansa Cityline on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo.
In March, Lufthansa said it is in talks with Airbus regarding the delivery of additional Airbus A350 aircraft that were originally destined for now-sanctioned Russian carriers.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
