Lufthansa’s (LH) first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental flew to its permanent home base in Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Tuesday.
During the roll-in ceremony at FRA, LH CEO Christoph Franz said the fourth-generation 747 would begin scheduled services June 1 with services from Frankfurt to Washington Dulles. Other destination cities to follow include Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles, New Delhi and Bangalore.
The 362-seat 747-8I offers a 92-seat business-class cabin, the largest in the industry, eight first-class seats, and 262 economy-class seats, LH said.
“The 748 fills the gap between our (Airbus) A340-600 and the A380,” Deutsche Lufthansa AG executive board member Carsten Spohr told journalists on the sidelines of the event. He said fuel efficient aircraft have become critical, especially when “40% of the total costs on a typical long-haul flight are for fuel.” He added, “With 10% less fuel consumption compared to the -400, we [have] come close to [the] seat mile costs of an A380.”
In response to a question on whether the 747-8I fulfills Boeing’s performance requirements, Spohr said the aircraft is within the limits but has not yet reached planned targets.“This first new aircraft (of a new type) is never the best one,” Spohr told. He said the weight of the aircraft is too high, resulting in more fuel burn. Also, he said, the General Electric GEnx-2B engines have to improve.
“I guess, by the delivery of our eleventh 747-8I, when the second batch of the aircraft [are started] these items will be solve,” Spohr told. The 11th aircraft is expected to be delivered in 2013.
LH has 20 747-8Is on order plus 20 options as part of its biggest-ever fleet modernization program. The aircraft will be delivered at a rate of five aircraft per year through mid-2015.
“We have a total of 160 aircraft on order,” Spohr said. “Our fleet will not grow within the next two years and still stay at the current number of 404 aircraft because we [are] exchanging older aircraft faster,” he added.
Responding to a question on whether LH will defer some aircraft deliveries as part of its €1.5 billion ($2 billion) cost-cutting program, Spohr said, “If we bring the cash flow up, there is no need to defer deliveries. If not, then we [will] reduce them”.
Article Source : ATW Daily News
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