Today, Lufthansa becomes the latest A321neo operator. The German flag-carrier has already been the first airline to fly the ‘new engine option’ of the A320. Now, the first of 40 ordered Airbus A321neo joins Lufthansa’s fleet.
The number of worldwide Airbus A321neo operators is constantly growing. Just one day ago, Air Transat received its first Airbus A321LR and became the first North American operator of the long-range version of the Airbus A321neo.
The airline’s first brand new A321neo has been registered as D-AIEA and named after the German city of Aachen. It is joining 19 A320neo which have been delivered to Lufthansa since early 2016.
Delivery: The first Airbus A321neo for Lufthansa has just been ferried from Hamburg (XFW) to Berlin (SXF) after performing touch-and-go landings at Rostock Laage Airport (RLG). The aircraft is registered as D-AIEA https://t.co/A4BCN2hLyd pic.twitter.com/ebwa2Epx5I
— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) May 4, 2019
Moreover, the new Airbus jet is equipped with Lufthansa’s new standardized short- and medium-haul cabin. The new cabin concept with a denser seating layout will be applied to all group airlines, including Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and low-cost carrier Eurowings. This will enable the Lufthansa Group to efficiently move around aircraft and capacity across the airlines.
With the new interior and cabin layout, the Lufthansa A321neo is able to carry up to 215, compared to 200 in the A321 with the old cabin.
At the moment, only mainline Lufthansa operates neo aircraft. Swiss International Air Lines has 17 A320neo and eight A321neo on order; the first A320neo for the flag-carrier of Switzerland is due to be delivered later this year. Other group airlines currently do not have A320neo family aircraft on order. However this might change very soon, as the Lufthansa Group recently teased a new order for up to 100 short- and medium-haul aircraft, either from Airbus or Boeing.
In addition to the newly delivered A321neo, the Lufthansa Group is looking forward to adding the Boeing 777-9 and 787-9 Dreamliner and to its fleet. The Group has almost 250 outstanding orders with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.
Read more: Lufthansa Group recently ordered Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more Airbus A350.
Nick Wenzel founded International Flight Network in 2016. He is the Social Media Manager and an Editor for IFN.news.
