Airbus A220 or Embraer E2: Lufthansa renews its short-haul fleet

one after another. First, the Lufthansa Group began revamping the long-distance fleet. After ordering the Boeing 777X in 2013, the German group also ordered an additional Boeing 787 and A350 in 2018. Lufthansa increased both orders in the following two years. recently came The first dreamliner in Frankfurt.

Now the company takes care of the other end of the fleet in terms of size: short-haul aircraft. Group president Carsten Spohr and his colleagues have been working on the Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 for a long time, but the long-haul aircraft has been a priority. Now the focus changes.

A220 and Embraer E2 are available

“We will definitely have to go back to shopping for short trips,” Spoor was quoted as saying by the magazine. Flying week In the internal staff forum. “We lack aircraft in the smaller category.”

At many of the airports that Lufthansa uses as feeder markets for its hubs, there are now strong low-cost airlines or competition from overseas airlines that fly passengers to their hubs, Spohr says. So one is forced to “connect more and smaller airports”.

Request from two aircraft manufacturers?

The group currently operates Bombardier CRJ 900s in Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cityline, Embraer E190s and E195s in Air Dolomiti, E190s in Lufthansa Cityline, E195s in Austrian Airlines, Airbus A220s in Swiss, Airbus A319s in Lufthansa and Lufthansa City. Looking to the future, the A319 Neo is out of the question for Lufthansa, CRJ production discontinued Hence there is the A220 and Embraer-E2 to choose from.

Lufthansa is said to have held talks with manufacturers at the end of 2020. On the other hand, Spohr said in JuneWe haven’t even formally asked for offers. It is not known how many aircraft Lufthansa is targeting, but it is likely a large number.

30 options left for the Airbus A220

However, Spohr noted at the time that he considered a large order from Airbus or Embraer to be feasible, as well as orders from both aircraft manufacturers. “It is always the case that the higher the number, the greater the potential discount,” the Lufthansa chief said in a media talk during the annual Iata meeting in Doha. “On the other hand, you don’t want to rely more than a certain limit on just one provider.”

The Lufthansa Group has outstanding orders for 47 A320neos, 23 A321neos and options for 30 A220s with Airbus. Recently, Eurowings also used Air Baltic’s A220 on an all-in-one lease this summer, The Swiss will do this next winter and summer. The Swiss subsidiary Lufthansa also operates the Embraer E2 aircraft through its other comprehensive leasing partner, Helvetic.