The board of Lufthansa has approved the purchase of 27 short- and medium-haul aircraft.
The purchase options for 24 Airbus A320neo and three A321neo will now be converted into firm orders.
With this decision, the Lufthansa Group is reacting to the positive market and earnings development and thus ensuring the necessary fleet size in the coming years.
The total investment of this order amounts to the list price of approximately US$3 billion.
The decision increases the total number of A320neo and A321neo orders of the Lufthansa Group to 149, of which 13 are already operating with Lufthansa.
The new A320neo and A321neo (short for New Engine Option) aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2023 and 2024.
Ten of the 27 new aircraft are intended for Swiss, while the remaining aircraft will be in service by other flight operations within the group.
One part of the order will be equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines (PW1100G); the other with LEAP-1A engines from CFM International.
This means that both engine types will continue to be available to the Lufthansa Group in roughly equal proportions for the family.
The innovative engine technologies developed by Pratt & Whitney and CFM International, as well as the aerodynamic wingtips (sharklets) with which the aircraft are equipped, reduce fuel consumption significantly by up to 20 per cent per seat kilometre.
Like all Lufthansa A320 family aircraft, the A320neo and A321neo are serially equipped with noise-reducing vortex generators as well.
An A320neo taking off has a noise level that is around 50 per cent lower than that of other aircraft of this type.