Airbus and Lufthansa Group celebrate 50 years of partnership | News
Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr and Lufthansa Group CTO Grazia Vittadini sign the agreement with Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Commercial Aircraft CEO Lars Wagner in the presence of Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the opening of the ILA Berlin Air Show
Airbus and Lufthansa Group agreed on a series of further cooperation efforts at the opening of the ILA Berlin Air Show and officially celebrated the 50th anniversary of their partnership, which began with the delivery of the first A300 to Lufthansa in 1976.
“Today we are working together on the delivery of the 700th aircraft for the Lufthansa Group, scheduled for later this year. This important milestone is just one example of how Airbus and Lufthansa have worked together to make aviation one of the most important industries for Germany,” said Lars Wagner, CEO Commercial Aircraft at Airbus.
“As the world’s leading aviation groups, Airbus and the Lufthansa Group share a long-standing, trusting and very special partnership. Over the past half century, we have not only taken delivery of more aircraft from Toulouse and Hamburg than any other airline in the world, but we have also supported the development of numerous aircraft models as launch customers. We intend to build on this foundation together to further develop aircraft technology and expand Europe’s leading role in the aviation sector,” said Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa Group.
The Lufthansa Group operates all Airbus aircraft families, including the A220, A300, A320, A330/A340, A350 and A380. Lufthansa was the launch operator for several aircraft, continually driving innovation in commercial aviation. Lufthansa recently placed a firm order for 10 additional A350-900 aircraft to complement its existing fleet of 43 of this type. In total, Lufthansa has now ordered 75 A350s, including the soon-to-be delivered A350-1000.
The agreement signed in the presence of Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the ILA covered several areas. Lufthansa has signed a component services agreement covering the entire Airbus A220 fleet, ensuring efficient operation of the smallest member of the Airbus aircraft family across the various airlines of the Lufthansa Group.
Airbus and Lufthansa also reaffirmed their commitment to the future of sustainable aviation. As an example, both companies also recently presented a SharkSkin aircraft coating for the A330 to further reduce fuel consumption.
