• 

  Lufthansa

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  LH/DLH

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport

  Year Founded:

  1953

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  Airline Group:

  Lufthansa Group

  CEO:

  Carsten Spohr

  Country:

  Germany

Lufthansa has 21 A350-900s. At just 4.3 years, they were the youngest type in its fleet until the first (and for now only) B787-9 arrived. Four of the 21 A350s are ex-Philippine Airlines, resulting from the Asian airline's bankruptcy and consequent rationalization. Their availability enabled Lufthansa to – in the airline's own words – "make the most of exceptional market opportunities."

Lufthansa's A350s: a summary

A fundamental part of Lufthansa's long-term planning, the first of its A350-900s (registered D-AIXA) arrived nearly six years ago in December 2016. Since then, 20 more have been delivered, including four this year – all ex-Philippine Airlines and each leased. According to ch-aviation.com, they are as follows:

1. D-AIVA: delivered to Philippine Airlines in July 2018, with Lufthansa in April 2022
2. D-AIVB: with Philippine Airlines in September 2018, with Lufthansa in April 2022
3. D-AIVC: with Philippine Airlines in October 2018, with Lufthansa in March 2022
4. D-AIVD: with Philippine Airlines in February 2019, with Lufthansa in May 2022

The four aircraft are based at Lufthansa's Munich hub rather than Frankfurt, and the first revenue-generating flight was on April 29th to Toronto. Flightradar.com shows that D-AVIC was deployed, substituting non-ex-Philippine A350-900s.

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How do they compare?

It isn't surprising that Lufthansa's 'own' A350s have virtually the same capacity (293 seats) as the ex-Philippine examples (295). However, they differ enormously regarding the number of seats per cabin.

Read more: Where Lufthansa’s B747-400 Are Flying This Week

The ex-Philippine equipment is decidedly less premium, with 18 fewer business seats and 17 more economy; this dictates the routes on which they're deployed. Funnily enough, despite a much smaller business cabin, the seats on the ex-Philippine aircraft – Vantage XL with direct aisle access – are superior. Here's how the two aircraft compare:

Discover more aviation news.

The ex-Philippine A350 network

It's easy to identify the routes on which the aircraft are used because of their different capacity. Cirium shows that, as of September 29th, the 295-seaters will be deployed on eight routes this winter, from October 30th to March 25th. They include three one-offs and a very time-limited service:

1. Munich to Delhi: 1x daily
2. Munich to Mumbai: 1x daily
3. Munich to Denver: 5x to 6x weekly
4. Munich to Montreal: 2x to 3x weekly
5. Munich to Charlotte: three times (November 2nd and 9th, and December 7th)
6. Munich to Newark: just once (November 11th)
7. Toronto to Munich: just once (March 25th) in that direction only (see below)
8. Vancouver to Munich: just once (March 25th) in that direction only (see below)

Toronto and Vancouver

Notice Toronto and Vancouver. Each airport has a 295-seater flight bookable to Germany on March 25th, the last day of winter 2022. The first 295-seater to Canada is the 26th, the first day of summer 2023. It'll then continue to operate throughout the peak season.

As the ex-Philippine equipment is not bookable or scheduled to Canada on the 25th (or before), it's unclear how they'll get there and remains subject to change.

Have you flown its 295-seaters? If so, share your experiences in the comments.