- Lufthansa seeks Boeing compensation for early B777-9 units
- Boeing targets summer 2027 entry into service for B777-9
- Lufthansa has contingency plans including A340-300 reactivation
- Lufthansa has 20 B777-9s on order
- The B777-9 programme passed halfway mark in certification testing
Lufthansa is in discussions with Boeing over which of the first-built B777-9s it would accept into service, with the German airline seeking financial compensation from the OEM if it takes early-production jets requiring later modifications. Group CEO Carsten Spohr likened Lufthansa’s position to that of Emirates, which has publicly said it does not want the earliest B777-9s because of the extensive work needed to bring them to final production standard.
Spohr said Lufthansa was less public about the issue than Emirates but described the issue as essentially the same. Boeing continues to target summer 2027 as the entry into service date for the B777-9, with the first deliveries expected in the first quarter of 2027. Spohr said Lufthansa has contingency plans should the already delayed widebody programme slip again, including reactivating A340-300s which the airline has kept for this purpose to cover the network.
Lufthansa’s published schedules currently assume that the A340-300 will remain in service because that presents the more reliable planning assumption until Boeing’s delivery timetable becomes more certain. Lufthansa has 20 B777-9s on order, while Emirates’s order totals 235 B777-9s plus 35 B777-8s. Boeing announced in July that the B777-9 programme had passed the halfway mark in certification testing and was focused on finalising the remaining regulatory steps ahead of the first deliveries in 2027.
Carsten Spohr shared: “Like our friends in Dubai, we are in talks with Boeing about which of these airplanes we will not be accepting for commercial service and which of these aircraft will be able to be modernised. And then, of course, with the financial contribution of Boeing, we would be willing to take. If there are further delays, we would reactivate A340-300s, which we have kept for this purpose to cover the network.”
