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Lufthansa has announced that the first 10 of the A350 aircraft that the airline currently has on order will be based at its Munich hub and not at its larger base at Frankfurt. The base for the remaining 15 aircraft on the order book has yet to be announced.
The airline is expected to take delivery of its first A350-900 aircraft in late 2016 and, as they have been ordered primarily to replace the ageing (and fuel guzzling) A340-600s, Munich is the logical base at which to station them – 19 out of Lufthansa’s 24 A340 aircraft are currently based in Munich.
Lufthansa expects the new Airbus A350 to be up to 25% more efficient than the aircraft it is replacing and is a central cog of the airline’s efficiency drive across its fleet.
Lufthansa has recently taken possession of the world’s first A320 Neo aircraft, an expected to show significant cost savings on fuel when compared to its sister aircraft, but that still leaves it with a very inefficient fleet.
Lufthansa A350 – Image courtesy of Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa has 14 Airbus A380’s, 32 Boeing 747s and 42 Airbus A340s in current service and none of those aircraft is particularly fuel efficient (in fact, the inefficiency of these aircraft its what’s killing all three of them off). Together, these aircraft help to make Lufthansa one of the least efficient large carriers in the market and that’s something Lufthansa is trying to address with the A350.
Per Lufthansa:
The A350-900 marks the entry into the 2-litre class: it is more economical to fly than any other type of aircraft. On average, the new aircraft will consume only 2.9 litres of kerosene per passenger and 100 kilometres flown. That is around 25 percent less than the models currently used.
The latest Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines and an aerodynamic design reduce noise emissions to levels well below the currently prescribed limits. As a result, the noise footprint generated by the aircraft is up to 50 percent smaller than that of comparable aircraft. \
Furthermore, new insulation methods and sound-absorbing materials make the aircraft cabin particularly quiet.
Impressive 🙂
Lufthansa A350 – Image courtesy of Lufthansa Technik
The A350 will also be more efficient from a passenger/sq ft of cabin space point of view as it won’t be delivered with a First Class cabin. Lufthansa’s A350 will come with 48 Business Class seats, 21 Premium Economy Class seats and 224 regular Economy Class seats – a total of 293 seats.
There is no official word on the routes that the Lufthansa Airbus A350 will fly but comments from management indicate that Boston and Delhi are the likely candidates to see A350 service first.
I haven’t been able to find any details as to the exact cabin layout of the Lufthansa A350 (not that surprising considering we’re still a year away from delivery) but, having flown the Finnair A350, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Lufthansa has in store.
Featured image courtesy of Airbus.
Will there be familiarization flights around Europe?
I would definitely expect there to be some familiarisation flights around Europe (Finnair flew quite a few when it got the A350) but there’s a surprising lack of news surrounding Lufthansa’s plans right now. I’ll keep the blog updated as and when I get any more info.