German Lufthansa Group wants to become more profitable and attractive for investors again. In addition to extensive measures for the crisis-ridden subsidiary Eurowings, this week's Capital Market Day also saw Group management present restructuring plans for Brussels Airlines, as well as tough targets for the network airlines Austrian, Lufthansa and Swiss. CEO Carsten Spohr and his colleagues also want to make their fleet more cost efficient.
«Our fleet strategy is aimed at maximizing flexibility and reducing complexity», reads the presentation at the Capital Markets Day. This is why the long-haul fleet is to be reduced from 14 to only eight aircraft models. This will lead to «low costs for crew training, maintenance and operation», according to the presentation. In addition, the old planes are fuel guzzlers compared to newer models. But which aircraft types have to go exactly?
Planes go, planes come
Lufthansa is phasing out 13 Boeing 747-400s, 17 Airbus A340-600s and 15 A340-300s, while Austrian Airlines is phasing out six Boeing 777-200 ERs and six Boeing 767-300 ERs. Five Airbus A340-300s will be thrown out at Swiss and four at Edelweiss. Brussels Airlines will be removing two Airbus A340-300s it operates for Eurowings and four A330-200s. Eurowings itself will be bidding farewell to seven A330-200s that Sun Express operates for the low-cost airline. At Lufthansa Cargo twelve McDonnell Douglas MD-11 F have to make way.
Once these seven aircraft models have left the group's long-haul fleet, Airbus A380s, Boeing 747-8s, Boeing 777-300s, Airbus A350-900s, Airbus A330-300s, Boeing 777 Fs and Boeing 777-9s will remain. In addition, there will be a new model, the Boeing 787-9, of which the group has ordered 20 aircraft and for which it is not yet clear which subsidiaries they will go to. Together this results in eight aircraft types for long-haul flights in the future.
In the image gallery above you can see all the long-haul aircraft types that the Lufthansa Group will be sorting out.
Lufthansa planning significant changes in long-haul fleet
Boeing 747-400.
Simeon Lüthi/aeroTELEGRAPH
Boeing 777-200.
Simeon Lüthi/aeroTELEGRAPH
Airbus A340-600.
Simeon Lüthi/aeroTELEGRAPH
Airbus A340-300.
Simeon Lüthi/aeroTELEGRAPH
Airbus A330-200.
Simeon Lüthi/aeroTELEGRAPH
Boeing 767-300.
Simeon Lüthi/aeroTELEGRAPH
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 F.
