Lufthansa Group orders 20 new Airbus and Boeing twin-aisle aircraft worth $7.7 billion
May 12, 2026
Lufthansa Group has placed orders for 20 new twin-sile aircraft to bolster its future long-haul aspirations. The 10 Boeing 787-9s and 10 Airbus A350-900s will primarily be used to accelerate the Group’s fleet replacement programme as it looks to modernise its widebody fleet around the efficient twin-engine aircraft types.
Lufthansa Group orders 20 new twin-aisle aircraft to modernise long-haul fleet
Germany’s Lufthansa Group has ordered 20 additional long-haul aircraft from Airbus and Boeing as it continues on the largest fleet modernisation program in its history. On 11 May, the carrier placed orders for 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 Airbus A350-900s in a deal said by the company to be worth $7.7 billion.
The new aircraft are largely intended to replace the Group’s ageing and less efficient widebody aircraft currently in service, which includes Airbus A330s, A340s, plus Boeing 747-400s. Deliveries of the new aircraft are scheduled for between 2032 and 2034.
The Group is yet to confirm which member airlines will receive the new aircraft, in what numbers and where they will be based.
The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG approved the order at a meeting on 11 May, following the Executive Board’s earlier decision to proceed with the purchase of the new jets.
Speaking about the Group’s latest order, Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr said that the new aircraft represented a consistent step toward greater efficiency and sustainability, adding that the Group was making “a sustainable investment in the future. It is a clear commitment to a modern fleet, to premium quality, and to further reducing CO2 emissions,” he added.
The new aircraft will promote commonality between the existing fleet
Spohr also highlighted that the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 are more fuel-efficient, quieter and lower-emission aircraft than the older types they will replace, noting that they have lower emissions than their respective predecessors.
He also noted that the incoming aircraft offer commonality with existing aircraft within the Group’s fleet. Lufthansa and its European partners already operate 31 Airbus A350-900s and 16 Boeing 787-9s.
This means that fleet complexity will be reduced, and efficiencies will be increased, providing the Group with “operational flexibility and stability.”
At the same time, maintenance and operating costs will be reduced, while further synergies will be achieved, including in the areas of cockpit and cabin crew licensing and spare parts inventory management, said a Group statement.
Lufthansa’s fleet modernisation reaches the next level
These latest orders mark the next step in the Lufthansa Group’s fleet modernisation programme, which kicked off when Lufthansa’s first Airbus A350-900 arrived in April 2022. Since then, the carrier has received an additional 30 of the type, with another two yet to be delivered from a previous order.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa became a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operator in August 2022 and now has 16 aircraft in service, with a further 10 yet to be delivered from an outstanding order.
The new order adds to an already large backlog of new aircraft across the Lufthansa Group. The group now has 232 aircraft on order in total, including both single-aisle and twin-aisle aircraft types. This figure incorporates the 20 long-haul aircraft just ordered, bringing the total number of outstanding widebody orders to 107.
While this may sound like a high number, Lufthansa in particular has a sizeable ageing fleet of twin-aisle aircraft that will need replacing in the coming years. According to data obtained from Planespoters.net, the carrier has five A330s, 16 A340s, and 26 Boeing 747s, which are all nearing retirement.
Elsewhere in the Group, SWISS has 14 A330s and four A340s, while Austrian has three Boeing 767s and six Boeing 777s that will need replacing. Discover Airlines already has four A350-900s earmarked for its use from Spring 2027, replacing older A330-300s.
Overall, Lufthansa Group’s widebody fleet renewal plan will see Airbus A350-900s, A350-1000s, Boeing 787-9s, Boeing 777-9s and 777-8 Freighters all join the fleet in the coming years, as the Group accelerates its fleet modernisation plan and seeks to benefit from the operational and efficiency benefits that the new types will offer.
Featured image: Lufthansa Group
