As a single airline brand, German carrier Lufthansa has one of the largest fleets in Europe with about 275 aircraft. Indeed, when it comes to the sheer number of jets, the airline is only beat by British Airways (280) and sits just above Ryanair (258) for its number two position on the continent. At the same time, Lufthansa has one of the most diverse fleets in the world- something we'll take a look at today.
The Lufthansa fleet at a glance
Let's first take a look at the composition of the airline's fleet as a whole. The aircraft types are listed below with quantities* in parentheses:
Airbus
- A319-100 (31)
- A320-200 (61)
- A320neo (30)
- A321-100 (20)
- A321-200 (43)
- A321neo (11)
- A330-300 (14)
- A340-300 (17)
- A340-600 (4)
- A350-900 (17)
Boeing
- 747-400 (8)
- 747-8 (19)
*Numbers come via data provided by ch-aviation.com. There are discrepancies in quantities for certain types when compared to data from Planespotters.net.
Goodbye A380(?)
A notable absence from the Lufthansa fleet as of late-2021 is the Airbus A380-800. Of this type, Lufthansa had an impressive fleet of 14. Unfortunately, despite clinging on to the superjumbos for a good year and a half (with partial storage of the fleet in Frankfurt), demand had not recovered quickly enough for the airline to bring the jets back.
Thus, on September 14th, Lufthansa bid farewell to the giant Airbus A380, possibly for the final time, as the jet left Frankfurt for storage. The entire fleet is now in storage with Tarmac Aerosave. Two are in Tarbes, France, with the remaining 12 in Teruel, Spain.
While sites like ch-aviation.com and Planespotters.net have moved the A380 into the "historical" category, we've seen airlines flip-flop on the topic of retiring the jet permanently. Etihad's CEO has mostly ruled out the type but has also said "never say never" on returning the A380 to service. Of course, Qatar Airways' changed course on the aircraft as well. At this time, however, Lufthansa isn't expected to return the A380 to service.
Despite saying goodbye to the superjumbo A380, the airline is holding on to its 747s, including a handful of older 747-400s. These jumbo jets, as you can imagine, are deployed on high-capacity, long-haul routes. The two -400s still active operate service out of Frankfurt to cities in China, including Xiamen, Qingdao, and Shenyang.
Hanging on to the A340
While the Airbus A340s and their four engines are less efficient and more costly to operate than their twinjet counterparts, Lufthansa continues to be one of the few carriers still flying the type.
Despite initial plans to completely retire the A340-600 fleet, Lufthansa slightly changed course in late June 2021 when it announced it would be removing five from long-term storage.
The airline will reactivate at least five -600s to allow it to offer first class on more routes from its Munich hub. These five jets will return to service in Summer 2022 with a plan to operate on flights to North America and Asia.
As for the airline's A340-300s, the type had a role in evacuating German citizens and refugees from Afghanistan over the summer. Data shows that 16 of the 17 aircraft are currently active.
The core of Lufthansa's short-haul operations
Lufthansa's short-haul operations, mainly within Europe, are conducted using Airbus narrowbody jets from the A320 family. These include a mix of older A319s, A320s, and A321s, as well as newer neo-type A320s and A321s.
The future of Lufthansa's long-haul operations rests with its Airbus A350-900s. While these jets are currently outnumbered by the airline's quad jets, there are over 30 of these newer twin jets on order. Additionally, the airline recently announced that it would be leasing four, which will join the fleet at the start of 2022.
Which Lufthansa aircraft have you flown on? And do you miss the airline's A380s? Let us know by leaving a comment.