Hello All, The Lufthansa Group announced earlier today that it would order 40 737 MAXes with 60 options. The Group separately ordered 40 A220-300s for its newly created subsidiary City Airlines. There are also options for 20 more A220s...
Hello All,
The Lufthansa Group announced earlier today that it would order 40 737 MAXes with 60 options. The Group separately ordered 40 A220-300s for its newly created subsidiary City Airlines. There are also options for 20 more A220s and 40 A320neo family aircraft. The group did not announce which airline would receive those 737 MAXes from 2027.
The A220 order was largely expected but the 737 MAX order was a surprise. The Lufthansa Group had consolidated all its mainline single-aisle flying to the A320 family. The airline was also hihglightling reduction in its twin-aisle fleet complexity. Why this sudden increase in fleet complexity?
This blog believes it is largely the combination of two factors: an offer from Boeing the Lufthansa Group could not refuse, and discontent with Airbus’ A320neo pricing and slot availabilities. IAG also ordered the 737 MAX for its BA EuroFlyer subsidiary because of dissatisfaction with Airbus and a good bargain from Boeing.
The interesting bit is which Lufthansa Group subsidiary will inherit the 737 MAXes. The group includes the following airlines:
Full service carriers: Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, and potentially ITA Airways in the future; Regional subsidiaries: Air Dolomiti, CityLine, City Airlines; Leisure and low-cost carriers: Discover, Edelweiss, Eurowings, and Eurowings Europe Malta.The group ruled out 737 MAX operations for Lufthansa, Swiss, and City Airlines. Austrian, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings are A320neo operators so they are unlikely candidates. This blog believes the most likely candidate for the 737 MAXes is Eurowings Europe Malta.