Lufthansa’s Exciting New 787

Lufthansa has taken delivery of an exciting new aircraft, a Boeing 787-9 with a special livery.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the German flag-carrier’s launch, it plans to unveil a special livery across several aircraft to celebrate the landmark.

At a special event held at Frankfurt Airport, the largest in the country, spotters, travellers and more welcomed the aircraft into the airline’s care, with the delivery flight coming from Everett, Washington, a key Boeing plant.

The 787-9 named Berlin is registered as D-ABPU and, while featuring the special livery on specific aircraft in the fleet, is also part of a critical business renewal focused on becoming more efficient and sustainable moving forward.

Jens Ritter, the Chief Executive at the airline, confirmed that the delivery of aircraft such as these in this livery is a symbolic moment in positions like his and highlights the work that has gone into reaching this point; it’s seen as special.

The 787-9, which arrived in Frankfurt with the new livery, will begin its first scheduled flights in the coming weeks, according to the airline.

Lufthansa Celebrates 100 Years

Lufthansa’s anniversary fleet was revealed some time ago; however, towards the end of November, the flag carrier confirmed that the livery would debut on six aircraft across the airline.

Each sub fleet would feature one aircraft in the 100-year design, from the smaller A320, to the 787, to the A350-900 and A350-1000, with also the A380 and 747-8, all aircraft intended to play a critical role in the business in the coming years.

These are also deemed by the airline to be the most critical sub-fleets and will feature a blue fuselage adorned with a white crane, with the crane’s wings merging with the plane’s.

In addition, a “100” has been integrated into the left side of the fuselage, and the lettering of “1926 / 2026” is featured on the right side. A “100” will also be visible on the belly of the aircraft for those seeing the planes from the ground.

The anniversary liveries, which will be featured across the airline’s most essential subfleets and give these planes a fresh feel at airports around the world, are expected to be fully implemented by fall 2026.

Lufthansa’s Recent 787 Woes

With excitement over a fresh delivery of the 787-9 comes equal frustration over the struggles these new deliveries have faced, not going according to plan upon entering service.

Last week, it was reported once more, thanks to comments from the airline’s CEO, that business-class seats on the 787s were still being blocked and would remain so through 2206.

As a result, the 28 premium seats installed on the jet are not all able to accommodate passengers due to certification issues stemming from the Federal Aviation Administration, the flag carrier saying just four are marketable.

Not only is this a reduction in passenger capacity, especially in the upper class, but it is also the cash cow of the airlines: long-haul flights with seats blocked have an adverse effect on their operations.

Additionally, given that Lufthansa is currently undergoing a critical turnaround to right the many wrongs that have seen its customer satisfaction and brand image drop, issues like these, if unresolved, do not help the situation at all.

The new cabin featured across the newly delivered 787s is part of a sizeable investment by the airline to change the perspective, but with factors such as the US Government shutdown and supply chain disruptions, the approval process for these seats has been complex.

Ultimately, if it hadn’t been for seats being blocked across the newly delivered 787 aircraft, the airline would have been battling delays in the delivery of these jets, period, forcing reliance on older aircraft and the pushback on network plans.

Therefore, it hasn’t been easy, but the celebration of 100 years shows that perseverance is neccesary. While there may be some obstacles, they are outweighed by 100 years of progress and the transportation of so many people.