There are under two weeks until the inaugural Lufthansa Boeing 787 service from Frankfurt to Munich. Ahead of the widebody's passenger debut, the airline will be dusting off its wings and putting it through its paces this weekend with a handful of training flights scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday.
It's been more than a month since Lufthansa took delivery of its 1st Boeing 787. While many aircraft are delivered ready to go, Lufthansa took a white body plane and opted to fit the aircraft's cabin itself at Frankfurt Airport. This process seems to have been completed as the airline prepares for the type's entry into service.
Flights planned on Saturday and Sunday
The Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 is expected to be flown several times over the weekend, visiting a variety of German Airports. The airline warned that "the planned rotations are training flights with our new 787-9. Therefore, the flight schedule can still change a lot". However, it clarified that the flight numbers are set in stone and suggested checking FlightRadar24.com for updated timings. As these are training flights, no paying passengers will be carried onboard.
The Saturday schedule is currently planned as follows (all times local),
|
Flight Number |
Departure Airport |
Departure Time |
Arrival Airport |
Arrival Time |
Flight Time |
Landings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
LH9871 |
Frankfurt (FRA) |
07:00 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
07:50 |
00h50m |
1 |
|
LH9872 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
08:20 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
10:50 |
02h30m |
8 |
|
LH9873 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
11:20 |
Dresden (DRS) |
11:50 |
00h30m |
1 |
|
LH9874 |
Dresden (DRS) |
12:20 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
12:50 |
00h30m |
1 |
|
LH9875 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
13:20 |
Hannover (HAJ) |
13:55 |
00h35m |
1 |
|
LH9876 |
Hannover (HAJ) |
14:25 |
Frankfurt (FRA) |
15:00 |
00h35m |
1 |
|
LH9877 |
Frankfurt (FRA) |
16:00 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
16:50 |
00h50m |
1 |
|
LH9878 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
17:20 |
Dresden (DRS) |
17:50 |
00h30m |
1 |
|
LH9879 |
Dresden (DRS) |
18:20 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
18:50 |
00h30m |
1 |
|
LH9880 |
Leipzig/Halle (LEJ) |
19:20 |
Hannover (HAJ) |
19:50 |
00h30m |
1 |
|
LH9881 |
Hannover (HAJ) |
20:20 |
Frankfurt (FRA) |
21:00 |
00h40m |
1 |
The plan for LH9871-LH9878 is the same for Sunday. After this, the aircraft will omit its final Leipzig/Halle stop, instead being scheduled to fly,
|
Flight Number |
Departure Airport |
Departure Time |
Arrival Airport |
Arrival Time |
Flight Time |
Landings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
LH9879 |
Dresden (DRS) |
18:20 |
Hannover (HAJ) |
18:50 |
00h30m |
1 |
|
LH9880 |
Hannover (HAJ) |
19:20 |
Frankfurt (FRA) |
20:00 |
00h40m |
1 |
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Why not just fly between Frankfurt and Munich?
You may be wondering why the airline doesn't just complete touch and goes in Frankfurt or move between its two main bases with flights to Munich Airport. This is because both airports are among the busiest in Europe. Passenger and cargo flights need take-off and landing slots, and a widebody doing touch-and-goes would just get in the way.
Leipzig/Halle, Dresden, and Hannover are quieter airports, meaning a Boeing 787 flying landing and taking off again will cause less or no disruption. Once the aircraft is flying passengers, it will initially operate a domestic service from Frankfurt to Munich and back. This doesn't impact operations at the airports because the plane is simply taking the place of an Airbus A320 that would be flying the route regardless.
The inaugural Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 flight is scheduled for LH096 from Frankfurt to Munich on Wednesday, October 19th. Simple Flying will be on the flight and report it to our readers.
Are you excited to see Lufthansa start flying the newest type in its fleet? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!