Long haul jets
How many Airbus A350 is Lufthansa still getting?
After orders for two A350 disappeared in January, there was some confusion about changes in the Airbus order book. Now the airlines clears that up.
Lufthansa has 15 A350 in its fleet already.
Lufthansa has 15 A350 in its fleet already.
In January, Airbus order book contained only 43 A350-900 orders for Lufthansa. Previously there had been 45. That small fact created a lot of confusion. Has Lufthansa cancelled orders? No, says the airline. What looks like a cancellation of two jets on firm order is not one at all, a spokesman for the airline tells aeroTELEGRAPH.
Five of the orders were «reconfirmable», he continues. With this form of order, the customer can withdraw from the order within a specified period of time. Lufthansa has done this for two aircraft.
Still 25 to 28 Airbus A350
Lufthansa’s order was placed in two steps: In 2013, the airline ordered 25 Airbus A350-900s, but five of them were reconfirmable. In 2019, the airline then ordered 20 more A350-900s and in the process cancelled the two aircraft, which have now disappeared from the Airbus order book in January.
This means that of the 43 A350-900s for Lufthansa that are now still in the Airbus order book, 40 are firm orders and three are still reconfirmable. Lufthansa has already received 15 of the Airbus A350-900s. Thus, the airline now expects between 25 and 28 of the aircraft after all.