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| Image courtesy of Brian Griffin |
Lufthansa commenced operating a weekly Frankfurt-Dublin Airbus A340-300 service operating mid morning DLH978/979 on Wednesdays from 3rd July till 30th October.
The inaugural service was operated by D-AIGS Airbus A340-313X MSN 297 named “Bergisch-Gladbach” which was delivered to Lufthansa on 13th October 1999.
This is the first schedule Airbus A340-300 service to Dublin since TAP-Air Portugal operated a weekly service to Faro in the mid 1990s.
In a statement to Aerotelegraph website Lufthansa said “Operational reasons have prompted us to temporarily replace the usual A320 on these routes with A340. The use of long-haul aircraft from 1 July to the end of October helps to prevent especially flight cancellations during the summer.”
The aircraft Airbus A340-300/600 will operate on a few selected flights with high demand from Frankfurt to Cairo (CAI), Dublin (DUB), Lisbon (LIS), Vienna (VIE).
On 13th March Lufthansa announced a $12 Billion order at list prices with Airbus and Boeing for 20 Airbus A350-900 and 20 Boeing 787-9 aircraft to replace four engined aircraft (Airbus A340-300/600/Boeing 747-400/800) between late 2022 and 2027. The carrier added “Lufthansa Group has negotiated a significant price reduction”.
The airline operates a fleet of 15 Airbus A340-300 aircraft seating 283 passengers in a three class layout 18 flat-bed seats in Business Class, 19 reclining seats in Premium Economy, and 261 standard seats in Economy Class powered by four CFM56-5C4 engines.
According to Lufthansa Group Capital Markets Day presentation, by 2025, the Group plans to retire the Airbus A340-300 from its fleet carriers.
CEO and Chairman of Lufthansa Group Carsten Spohr said “By replacing four-engine planes with new models, we are laying a sustainable foundation for our future in the long run. In addition to the cost-effectiveness of the A350 and B787, the significantly lower CO2 emissions of this new generation of long-haul aircraft was also a decisive factor in our investment decision. Our responsibility for the environment is becoming more and more important as a criterion for our decisions.”
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