Frankfurt Good news for all Airbus A380 fans. The wide-body jet will remain in use at Lufthansa for a few more years. “The aircraft will fly longer than we thought a year ago,” said CEO Carsten Spohr to journalists in Frankfurt on Thursday evening: “That is why we have decided to equip the A380 with a new business class.”
However, the jet probably won’t get the brand new cabin called Allegris. There are delivery problems here. The double-decker is likely to be equipped with the latest business class currently in use in the group. So far, older seats have been installed in the A380.
Because ticket demand rose sharply after the pandemic, but at the same time there was a shortage of aircraft, group management decided a year ago to reactivate the A380. The double-decker was actually finally phased out at the beginning of the crisis. But the aircraft parked in Teruel, Spain, are currently being made operational again, piece by piece and with a lot of effort.
The company initially planned to have four aircraft, but now all eight jets are being brought back. The company’s management had already started shrinking the A380 fleet before the pandemic. Although the jet is very popular with customers, it is not particularly efficient with its four engines. Lufthansa returned six of the 14 A380s to the manufacturer Airbus and eight were parked.
The fact that all of these remaining aircraft will be back in use from 2025 is due to the massive delivery delays for aircraft. In some cases, the approval of new jets is taking a long time, but above all important components such as engines are missing.
Sometimes entire aircraft are missing, sometimes engines, sometimes seats
Spohr was in the USA at the beginning of the week and met representatives of major manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing. There was no good news: “The issue is far from over. “It will take longer than some people think,” said the manager.
The problems are deep. It will take a lot of time until the necessary reliability production figures are achieved again at Airbus and Boeing, but also at the engine manufacturers, Spohr continued.
The delivery crisis is hitting Europe’s largest airline group in several places. Lufthansa is eagerly awaiting the Boeing 777x long-haul jet. Spohr complained that the first Lufthansa aircraft had been on the ground in Seattle for a good three years: “They could actually fly, but they are not registered.”
Lufthansa is again missing seats on the Airbus A350. And the problems at engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney are currently shaking up the industry. Because defective material was used in the production of engine disks for the so-called GFT engine, around 3,000 engines, which are primarily installed in the popular A320neo, now have to be inspected at short notice.
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The crisis also affects the German engine specialist MTU Aero Engines, which is involved in the GFT program. The Dax group expects 600 to 700 additional workshop visits due to the inspection and replacement of parts. Earnings and sales could therefore be burdened with up to one billion euros in the coming years.
The head of Europe’s largest airline group is pleased about the good demand, but is frustrated by the aircraft manufacturers’ delivery problems.
(Photo: Reuters)
Lufthansa will therefore have to take an average of 20 A320neos out of service over the next year and replace them with older aircraft. “Depending on the model, each new aircraft causes between 25 and 30 percent fewer emissions,” said the Lufthansa boss. That’s why it’s so incredibly frustrating at the moment that things are going well on the demand side, but unfortunately not on the suppliers’ side.
According to the CEO, there is no sign of an end to the travel boom yet. “Summer just doesn’t end.” September is a very strong month. “We are now flying into the Mediterranean until October and partly into November – where we used to end at the end of August,” says Spohr. There are also more business travelers again because China has opened up.
Despite the good business and high flight prices, the CEO believes that the Lufthansa Group has not yet reached its goal in terms of profitability. “We are currently at 15 euros per passenger.” However, this bill also includes the expensive premium tickets to North America or Singapore. “This is not yet where we want to be.” Lufthansa needs the money to be able to finance all the planned investments.
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