2023-12-19 16:16:01
Lufthansa is making its fleet fit for the future and is ordering 80 short- and medium-haul aircraft. The AUA mother announced on Tuesday that they had ordered 40 737-8 MAX machines from the US manufacturer Boeing and secured options for a further 60 machines. Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr spoke of a “good strategic decision” to order Boeing 737 aircraft for the first time since 1995.
The group also ordered 40 A220-300 aircraft for Lufthansa City Airlines from the European manufacturer Airbus and secured 20 purchase options. There are also purchase options for 40 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family. The machines are scheduled to be delivered between 2026 and 2032. The Lufthansa subsidiary said in response to an APA request that there are currently no plans to use the newly ordered aircraft at AUA.
“With today’s aircraft order, we are accelerating the largest fleet modernization in our company’s history,” said Detlef Kayser, Board Member for Fleet and Technology. The order list of around 200 aircraft increases to 280 plus 120 purchase options. With the decision in favor of the Boeing 737-8 MAX, Kayser emphasized that we will now have more flexibility in the future when procuring short- and medium-haul aircraft.
As a previous major customer of the 737, Lufthansa retired its last model in 2016 and has since then relied primarily on Airbus in this area. Boeing manager Stan Deal welcomed the fact that Lufthansa, as a former launch customer, was now adding 737 aircraft to the fleet again. While Lufthansa shares were almost one percent higher in the early afternoon, Boeing shares were up a good one percent before the trading session.
According to the information, the new aircraft are more comfortable, quieter, more economical and more efficient. The machines emitted up to 30 percent less CO2 than their predecessor models. According to list prices, the firm orders for a total of 80 aircraft would be worth a good 9 billion dollars (8.24 billion euros). However, there are usually discounts here. The order is unlikely to have a significant impact on the group’s investment expenditure in 2023 and 2024, Lufthansa said. “In 2023, net investments are expected to be between 2.5 and three billion euros.” Next year the effort will probably be similar.
Due to delivery difficulties and engine problems, Lufthansa is also scaling back its growth plans for the coming year. Spohr told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that the company was struggling with delivery delays for aircraft, engines, seats and spare parts, as well as unplanned overhauls of an engine for the Airbus A320. “We will adjust the flight plan for 2024 slightly and slightly reduce the originally planned growth,” emphasized Spohr, without being more specific. At the beginning of November, Lufthansa declared that the offer should reach 91 percent of the pre-Corona level in the current final quarter. An increase to 95 percent was planned for the coming year.
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