While we thought there would be no plans for Lufthansa to bring back its A380 fleet, things have now changed dramatically.
Lufthansa Wants to Keep the Airbus A380s Longer
During the pandemic, Lufthansa retired all its 14 Airbus A380s and even sold six of them and would only bring these superjumbos back “in the event of an unexpectedly rapid market recovery.”
However, things have turned over and we can see a very strong demand for global travel so Lufthansa will be bringing back all remaining A380s. The airline also revealed routes for this year and next year.
According to aero.de, Lufthansa Group’s CEO, Carsten Sphor, mentioned that the airline will retain its remaining eight Airbus A380s significantly longer for the next few years as the A380s “will fly longer than we thought a year ago.” The exact timeline is yet to be known however, it looks like the aircraft will stick to the fleet for years.
What is more interesting is not about re-activating the A380s but Lufthansa will be introducing a new Business Class product on these aircraft.
Lufthansa Plans to Introduce New Business Class on A380s
Spohr told media representatives in Frankfurt on Thursday that Lufthansa will be fitting a new Business Class product and operating for the next few years as “Customers’ feedback is positive and the demand is unbroken.”
This comes to the question of when and which business-class product will the airline introduce. Lufthansa will not be installing Allegris Product Business Class due to manufacturing delays therefore, it is likely for the airline to install standard Business Class seats such as reverse herringbones or staggered seats.
Another reason to update the cabin of the A380s is that the airline is facing continuing delays in new aircraft deliveries, with orders for the A350s, B787-9s and B777-9s still waiting “The manufacturers’ problems are profound,” said Spohr.
Lufthansa must, therefore, divert to older aircraft. With the A380s already reactivated and are also highly technically reliable in terms of operation.
Summary
Lufthansa Group’s CEO Carsten Sphor announced that Lufthansa will be keeping its Airbus A380s for the long run and also planning to introduce a new Business Class product soon. However, it will not be the Allegris seats but some other seats that are generally installed on other A380 operators.
