Lufthansa announced today, during a press release, that this winter they will deploy four of their currently parked Airbus A350-900s to their hub in Frankfurt.
Until the end of March 2021, the A350-900 will replace the Boeing 747-8 on the routes to Chicago and Los Angeles, USA. Starting in December the ultra-modern plane will be flying from Frankfurt to Tokyo/Haneda instead of the Airbus A340-300.
Lufthansa explained that the A350 is an environmentally friendly, efficient and quiet aircraft that offers customers a top product onboard.
“Compared to a Boeing 747-8, the Airbus A350-900 consumes around 12 percent less fuel and emits less CO2.”
However, this means the end of First Class service to the US as the Lufthansa A350-900 does not feature First Class like the B747-8 do.
Once the new Lufthansa arrivals are based at Frankfurt airport, all flights will be operated by Munich-based pilots and cabin crew.
Due to the reduction of flights caused by Covid-19, Lufthansa currently has 9 of their 16 fleet of A350-900’s parked in Munich. This means that only 7 planes will initially be operated from Munich in the winter timetable of 20/21, on routes to North America and Asia.
For Lufthansa this is a clever choice, a choice that will allow the airline to increase its fuel efficiency. Meaning that, for the same flight, the airline will be paying less in fuel costs, they will also be emitting less C02 into the atmosphere.
Shoot, still hoping to fly the 747-800. Hope LH keeps them flying somewhere.