Lufthansa Group has ordered five additional Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, raising its firm orders for the long-haul model from 10 to 15. The group announced the deal on December 20, 2024, with deliveries scheduled between 2028 and 2031. For passengers, the immediate effect is limited: this is a fleet-planning decision, with no route, schedule or onboard service change announced.
According to Lufthansa Group, the order is valued at approximately $2 billion at list prices. Once the aircraft are delivered, Lufthansa Group’s Airbus A350 portfolio will comprise 60 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s. The deal adds a larger variant to an aircraft family already central to the group’s long-haul renewal plans.
The order forms part of a wider fleet replacement
The A350-1000 purchase is part of a broader replacement programme rather than an isolated fleet addition. Lufthansa Group airlines have ordered 75 A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft in total. Of those, 28 were already in regular service, while 47 were still scheduled for delivery by 2031.
The group currently operates around 740 commercial aircraft and says its order book contains roughly 250 new fuel-efficient aircraft, including 100 modern long-haul aircraft. Over the medium term, twin-engine long-haul aircraft are intended to progressively replace the Boeing 747-400, Airbus A340-600 and Airbus A340-300.
That schedule puts the five new A350-1000s into a gradual renewal process. Their arrival will be spread across several years, so the effect on passengers will depend on how Lufthansa Group deploys each aircraft as deliveries progress.
What the A350-1000 adds
The Airbus A350-1000 is 73.8 metres long and offers about 15% more capacity than the A350-900. Lufthansa Group is therefore adding a larger aircraft within the same A350 family, giving it another capacity option as older aircraft are progressively retired.
Lufthansa Group says the new aircraft use up to 35% less fuel than their predecessors and produce proportionally lower CO₂ emissions. Those figures are the group’s stated comparison for the aircraft. The announcement does not attach them to a specific route or operating configuration, so they describe the intended fleet-level benefit rather than a guaranteed result on every flight.
A fleet commitment without a route announcement
The order supports Lufthansa Group’s stated goal of halving net CO₂ emissions in 2030 compared with 2019 through reduction and offsetting measures, followed by a target of CO₂ neutrality in 2050. The new A350-1000s sit within that longer renewal strategy alongside the group’s wider order book for fuel-efficient aircraft.
The concrete change is the increase to 15 firm Airbus A350-1000 orders, with the five newly announced aircraft due from 2028 through 2031. Their future deployment could affect capacity and fleet efficiency on selected long-haul services, but the announcement does not identify routes, cabin layouts or service changes. Until those decisions are made, the order signals a long-term shift in fleet composition rather than an immediate change to an individual journey.
Official sources
Primary source: Official source: newsroom.lufthansagroup.com