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Lufthansa brought ten Airbus A340-600 planes back into service in 2021. However, the operational lives of five of these aircraft are definitively ending this year.
When the global covid-19 pandemic started in 2020, Lufthansa had seventeen A340-600s in its fleet. To cut expenses, the airline grounded all of them. Thereby, the airline suggested that the type’s retirement was imminent. But as demand for long-distance travel recovered faster than new aircraft deliveries, the company decided to put ten of these planes back into operation. This extension of their service life is now concluding.
Lufthansa’s CEO, Carsten Spohr, mentioned late last year that the airline planned to start phasing out some of its Airbus A340 fleet in 2025. Two of these planes have already been flown to Teruel, Spain. There they will stay for their retirement and be dismantled. The first, with the registration D-AIHV, moved in January, followed by D-AIHT two months later.
It’s likely for three more planes to leave the fleet this year. The timeline for retiring the remaining five aircraft is not yet clear. Some of the routes currently flown by the A340-600 will be taken over by other aircraft, including the Boeing 747-400.
747-400
Lufthansa is among the few airlines still using the Boeing 747-400 for passenger flights. They also reactivated their eight jumbojets due to the rapid increase in demand for flights and the significant delays in the Boeing 777X program. Lufthansa anticipates receiving its first Boeing 777X in 2026. The last 747-400 is expected to be removed from the fleet by the end of 2028.