Lufthansa, you’re such a tease.
The German carrier left us with this on Twitter yesterday:
Big things are coming our way. Stay curious and enjoy the weekend. #HappyFriday pic.twitter.com/Zjm960oyaz
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) October 26, 2018
While the most likely answer is that the first A380 will soon be repainted in Lufthansa’s latest livery, the tweet has fueled speculation about a potential new aircraft order. For what it’s worth, one member of Airliners.net claims he heard from an inside source that Lufthansa will soon order 15 new A380neo jets.
> Read More: Lufthansa’s Unnecessary New Livery
Although Lufthansa’s order of 20 777-9 aircraft, slated to begin in 2020, is intended to replace its aging 747-400 fleet, the A340 issue still remains. Lufthansa has ordered 25 A350-900s intended to replace the fleet of A340-600s, but will the combo of 777-9s and A350-9s be enough? Lufthansa is also transferring some of its A340-300s to Brussels Airlines, for eventual Eurowings use.
> Read More: Next Generation Lufthansa Business Class Seat Revealed
> Read More: In Defense of Brussels Airlines
So is it possible that Lufthansa might place a new A380neo order? Well, sure. But it is highly unlikely. I think the combo of 777-9s and A350-900s will be sufficient to meet Lufthansa’s needs for the years to come. Even if Lufthansa wanted to grow its fleet further, it seems to me that more A350s or 787s would make more sense (unless it Airbus gave Lufthansa a deal it could not refuse).
CONCLUSION
A new A380 order from Lufthansa would be huge. But don’t get your hopes up. I suspect we’ll just see the first A380 in new livery in the days ahead.
I checked FlightRadar24, and all of Lufthansa’s A380s have been in scheduled commercial service within the last three days. Since it should take longer than that to repaint an A380, I doubt that this announcement will be for the first repainted A380. That does lead me to believe that maybe, despite the unprofitability of the A380, that Lufthansa is going to buy another batch of them!
Matthew, you may have missed the hottest rumour in German aviation this week – that LH is considering ordering the B787 Dreamliner or more A350s on condition that the planemakers help LH sell the A340.
Boeing had the 787 listed on their Lufthansa page and then deleted it after a few days. On the link below you can see the screenshot.
Indeed i think it’ll be a new order. It would be fantastic if it was the A380. Love that plane.
Remember the Swiss A340s were meant to be refurbished but that has been postponed for a while now. I think Swiss will probably get new planes instead.
https://www.aerotelegraph.com/boeing-787-oder-mehr-airbus-a350-lufthansa-schaut-sich-den-dreamliner-an
Just because LH showed an image of the A380 doesn’t or may not mean anything. I doubt the A380 will be painted in BOS. After all there is currently one here needing a new engine. The B789/A350 possible order isn’t suppose 2 B finalized until the end of 2019. The question is will LH keep their B777-9 order on the books?
Based on their flight loads for their current A380 routes I wouldn’t put that out of the realm of possibilities at all. At almost 550 capacity they’re usually full.
Perhaps this is a naive question but if Emirates can make the A380 work, why can’t airlines like LH and BA that have such strong fortress hubs.
Part of it is global reach. Emirates is a smaller airline, but has a difference model than Lufthansa. Less shorthaul service.
I sincerely doubt it’s a new A380 order. They would run into the same problem Emirates has, except even more so: both engine makers simply won’t play ball.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-22/ge-engine-venture-may-oust-rolls-from-emirates-a380-contract
I think it’s a new twinjet order.
Engine problems are not meant to last a lifetime. Only postpone deliveries. And a commentary from January doesn’t hold much breath.
Or is LH going to acquire those older SIA A380s?
I haven’t heard of any airlines complaining about the viability of the 787 or 350; on the contrary, they all seem to have grand plans for more of them , with greater point to point frequencies.
I LIKE the 380 and would hate to see it fail, but LOVE the smaller models , and choose them for preference when I can.
They should send the 340s off the the elephants graveyard in the desert or alternatively do what Air France did : they gave theirs to Joon to fly sectors in which AF has no interest; LH could do the same with Eurowings.
Yikes! Isnt a380neo configured with 3-5-3 in economy?
While I love mystery & suspense as much as the next person, and especially when it comes to what would certainly be a headline making, spectacular, high profile & “best kept secret” type of LAUNCH ORDER for Airbus and its flagship, but alas very slow selling, A380…
…somehow, the idea that this suggests an order for a “NEO”, or “New Engine Option”, for the quad-jet, Airbus super jumbo is at hand, just seems wildly “optimistic” seeing as how the two existing engine suppliers, the P& W Engine Alliance AND the already in over its head with its latest geneation of engines, Rolls Royce, would have had to long ago disclose to their shareholders the R&D expenses for a program so advanced as to be on the verge of imminent launch (much less having Board of Directors’ level “Authority to Launch” for prospective, active sales campaigns to airlines and OEM’s) the new technology, updated engines as being ready for sale to power a next generation Airbus A380.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure this, no doubt is at the top of both Airbus’s AND Emirates “wish list”!!!
But, while anything, of course, is possible – it’s hard to imagine a “NEO” version of the Airbus “Whale” – or A380 – is imminent.
Maybe an order to increase the fleet on routes that are maturing, and where traffic projections indicate that sort of upgauging is likely to be needed in three to five years’ time…
…or maybe some sort of cabin “update”/refresh to better match what Singapore
Airlines is doing with its newest A380s that are replacing its oldest, and less efficient versions from the earliest production models; whatever Qantas plans to do with its A380s in its already announced cabin updates; or to better match what the Middle East 3 offer with their fancier 1st class suits and butlter “apartments” and/or recently announced plans to introduce a Premium Economy product…
But, a NEO… that just seems a bit “ambitious” at this time! 😉
That’s “Authority to Offer”, or “ATO”, instead of “Authority to Launch”, a NEO engine, in the above.
With apologies for the error!
Airbus A380-841 Lufthansa New Livery First Landing at Munich Airport D-AIMD
https://youtu.be/cfkzLWMSYU0