By the summer of 2023, Lufthansa plans to reintroduce its double-decker Airbus A380 aircraft, bringing the high-capacity behemoths to popular routes leaving from Munich (MUC). This was announced this week.
In anticipation of the busy summer travel season, Lufthansa intends to restart its grounded fleet of super-jumbos due to the continued growth in travel demand and the difficulty of producing enough new aircraft to meet airline demand.
Beginning in June 2023, three A380s will fly flights out of Munich. Later, additional A380s will resume service.
Eight A380s that belong to Lufthansa are currently grounded since travel demand reached all-time lows during the start of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Six of the aircraft were also sold by the airline while they were grounded.
The airline had previously stated that it intended to begin A380 flights but had not supplied any information, but during a Thursday results call with investors, CEO Carsten Spohr gave the additional information.
If you want to fly it, Spohr advised, "Expect three in Munich, and you should book now because our guests enjoy it."
"That's just the start,"
Three won't do, he continued, "given the demand we perceive and also for operational reasons, we'll need to push that number up."
A thorough strategy is currently being developed for that.
After more than two years, Lufthansa revealed plans to restart the A380 fleet in June of last year. In a statement, the airline cited "the significant surge in consumer demand and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft."
The four cabins on Lufthansa's A380s can accommodate 509 passengers.
There are 371 economy seats, 78 business class seats, 52 premium economy recliners, and 8 first class seats available.
Which locations the A380 will travel to were unclear at first.
In order to accommodate unforeseen demand, Lufthansa has used older planes on a number of occasions during the pandemic recovery.
The airline brought six Airbus A340-600s out of storage in March and added them to a number of U.S. routes that depart from Munich.
Additionally, the airline uses smaller A340-300 planes, which it intends to replace in the upcoming years.
The -300 lacks a first class cabin in comparison to the -600.
These A340-300s will probably soon be phased out in favor of Boeing 787s, Spohr said on the earnings call.
Following a halt due to manufacturing problems, 787 deliveries have recently resumed.
The 340-300s are intended to be replaced by the 787 because both aircraft fly without a first class and have roughly the same capacity, he explained.
"This is just the beginning," said the pilot, "as we have 32 787s in total on order."
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