Airlines Lufthansa strengthens Munich hub

The largest airline in Germany, Lufthansa, has announced that it will put more focus on its operational hub at Munich. The airport is the airline´s second largest hub after Frankfurt and has Lufthansa has been especially investing in the Bavarian airport over the past years.

On selected routes, Lufthansa will now offer First Class services. To make this happen, five Airbus A340-600s will be reactivated. Onboard of the A346, eight passengers in First Class can be welcomed. The aircraft will re-join Lufthansa´s fleet next Summer in 2022.

First class services onboard of the A346 will be offered on routes from Munich to North America and Asia. On these routes, Lufthansa sees the largest demand for first class services, especially after the global travel industry is slowly returning to prior levels of activity.

Before the pandemic started, Lufthansa served routes with a fleet of 17 A340-600s. As travel restrictions were imposed by the governments, it was financially not sustainable for Lufthansa to have the A346 grounded. Therefore, 12 of them are currently waiting to find a new owner.

In addition to the A340s, Lufthansa will also offer first class services onboard of the A350-900 starting in late Summer 2023, when the first A350s with first class cabin will join the airline´s fleet. Lufthansa already operates a large fleet of the modern aircraft but all of them only feature economy, premium economy and business class.

As replacement for the outgoing A340s, Lufthansa has recently announced that it plans to purchase five additional A350-900s and five Boeing 787-9s. The first aircraft of this order are set to be delivered this winter.

For the upcoming years, Lufthansa is pushing its fleet modernization programme further. Until 2027 alone, the airline is expected to take delivery of over 100 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, as older ones are being phased out.

To modernize an aircraft fleet and to standardize aircraft types enables operators to lower their costs for overall performance and maintenance. Modern aircraft are mostly featuring new technologies and aerodynamical advantages or new engines that make flying more sustainable.

Lufthansa is the largest carrier in Germany and one of the biggest airlines in Europe. Lufthansa Group, to which airlines like Swiss, Austrian or Brussels Airlines belong, offers services with a fleet of over 670 aircraft.