On Thursday, Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, announced at an annual press conference that Lufthansa will base the first new Boeing 777-9 aircraft in Frankfurt. The Boeing 777-9 will replace Lufthansa’s aging Boeing 747-400 fleet. Lufthansa has ordered 20 of the new jets with the first delivery due in the second half of 2020. In November 2017 Lufthansa unveiled their new Business Class product, which will be introduced in the Boeing 777-9.
Spohr also announced that two additional Airbus A380-800s will be moved in Munich as of summer 2020. Lufthansa is currently using five Airbus A380-800s from their southern Germany hub, connecting Munich with Miami, Hong Kong and San Francisco during the winter season and Beijing, Hong Kong and Los Angeles during the summer season.
On Wednesday, the Lufthansa Group announced an order 40 more long-haul aircraft, increasing the order book to 72 long-haul planes.
The Boeing 777-9 is the larger version in the new 777X family. It’s the newest family of twin-aisle airplanes that builds on the passenger-preferred and market-leading Boeing 777 and 787 families. The Boeing 777-9 has a length of 77 m (252 ft) and an extended wingspan of 72 m (236 ft). On the ground, the wings can be folded upwards to reduce the wingspan to only 65 m (213 ft). The range of the new aircraft is given to 14,075 km (7,600 nm) and the usual seat configuration in a two-class layout allows 400 to 425 seats according to Boeing.
Boeing's newest aircraft, the Boeing 777X, flew for the first time in January after lengthy delays. It's the largest twin-engine jet in the world and Boeing's latest new aircraft to fly since the. Lufthansa Boeing 777X Lufthansa Group is considering ordering the Boeing 787 to complement its long-haul fleet according to its CEO Carsten Spohr. “The Boeing 787 would be an alternative to ordering more A350s, for which we still have options”, said Spohr in an exclusive interview with Airlineratings.com on the sidelines of a conference. Lufthansa has called a reality check on the debut of its Boeing 777X aircraft, with CEO Carsten Spohr recently telling staff at an internal company meeting that the airline's first Boeing 777-9 won’t realistically arrive before the second quarter of 2022, according to people in attendance, who asked not to be named discussing comments that weren’t publicly made. Lufthansa has announced that it is pulling back from part of its Boeing 777X order. Originally the airline placed a firm order for 34, but as of yesterday, it switched 14 of these aircraft to options. That leaves the German airline with just 20 firm orders for the type. For Boeing, this represents a loss of firm orders to the tune of $6.2bn. Rendering of Lufthansa Boeing 777-9 Boeing pushes back 777X deliveries to late 2023 It has now been revealed that Boeing 777X deliveries will only start in late 2023 at the earliest. Boeing claims that the updated schedule is due to the following factors.
Lufthansa will configure its 777-9 in a three-class layout with a Business Class, Premium Economy Class and Economy Class. According to Lufthansa, the new Business Class will feature between 30 and 45 seats. It has not yet published how many seats they will use in the other two classes.
Featured image by Boeing/Lufthansa
Given the enormous difficulties that Boeing has had to meet FAA requirements to re-certify the 737 MAX, plans to put the new 777X widebody jet into service in 2021 seem quite difficult. It is the conclusion reached by Emirates Airline, the model’s biggest customer, which recently said it was planning to receive the first plane only in 2022.
The Boeing 777x
But for Lufthansa, the launch customer for the world’s largest twin-engine passenger, the first 777-9 is due to be delivered next year. In response to the Aero Telegraph website, a spokesman for the German carrier stated that the company has the aircraft throughout 2021.
Lufthansa ordered 20 units of the 777-9 variant, the largest of the new model, while Emirates placed an original order for 150 aircraft, but it was reduced to 115 units at the end of 2019.
Boeing launched the 777X program with the goal of offering a large-capacity widebody to be an alternative to four-engine aircraft such as the 747 and A380. To attract customers, airframer introduced several improvements seen in the 787 Dreamliner such as a lighter fuselage, large wings and more efficient engines. Thanks to this, the new 777-9 manages to be 21% more efficient than the popular 777-300ER.
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However, the flight test program is long overdue. The first plane flew only in January and six months later Boeing has two aircraft carrying out the certification program. According to the FlightRadar24 website, the first prototype (N779XW), has already performed flights over six hours long, while the second airplane (N779XX), stayed at most just over three hours in the air.
Boeing 777x Orders
Boeing aims to receive FAA 777X certification in early 2021. However, the aircraft will have the arduous task of obtaining approval from the U.S. agency shortly after the 737 MAX scandal, which prompted the US government to review the entire commercial aircraft certification procedure.
According to the US manufacturer, the third test 777X is due to make its maiden flight in the coming weeks. Until May, Boeing claimed to have 309 firm orders for the aircraft.