by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 21, 2015 | Featured, Fleet Update, History, Lufthansa |
Today (February 19) marks another important milestone in the evolution of Lufthansa as a major global airline.
On February 19, 1965 Lufthansa announced it would be the “Launch Customer” for Boeing’s 737. The initial order for 21 aircraft would be the first time that a Non-US based carrier would be a launch customer for a new model from Boeing. Over the course of time, Lufthansa would ultimately operate 155 737s. The cost of initial order was 65 million US dollars. Adjusted for 2014 it would be valued at approximately 475 million US dollars. The first Lufthansa 737 entered service on February 10, 1968 and LH would ultimately operate 155 737s over the years.
This was the first time that a jet was being designed specifically for short haul markets. Previously, jets were primarily used for transcontinental travel, but with the emergence of air travel’s popularity, it had become necessary to provide jet service on shorter distances. In Boeing’s development of the 737, Lufthansa played a vital role in the engineering of the aircraft. Professor Gerhard Holtje, Lufthansa’s board member in charge of engineering at the time was instrumental in the design of the new aircraft that would become the work horse of airlines the world over. This also put Lufthansa’s mark on the map as a significant and influential member of the airline community.
Some interesting facts:
* Approximately 8100 Boeing 737 (including various derivatives) have been manufactured.
*Boeing still builds approximately 45 737s EACH Month!
* There is a 737 landing or taking off every 5 seconds.
* 737’s have carried over 12 billion passengers
* 737’s have flown approximately 65 billion miles (120 billion km)
* The 737 represents approximately 25 percent of the global airline fleet.
Today, Lufthansa still operates 22 737s but it is phasing them out as more efficient aircraft are delivered to the fleet. I had a chance to witness the retirement of a 737 and was in Tulsa when it landed at Lufthansa Technical Component Services where it would be ‘decommissioned’. The last of the 737s should disappear from LH’s fleet by next year.
A very early 737…courtesy of Wikimedia.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 18, 2015 | Featured, Fleet Update, Lufthansa, Plane Spotting |
As the adage goes, all good things must come to an end. In the case of Lufthansa, this means that the last 747-8i has been completed and will join the fleet in a few weeks.
‘D-ABYU’ exited the paint shop on February 16 at Paine Field and will take to the skies in the next few days for her B-1, B-2 and C-1 Flights. These flights will serve to test and certify the aircraft before it is handed over to Lufthansa sometime in March or April, depending on results of the tests.
Here are a few shots that have been kindly shared by spotters at Paine Field yesterday (I had left Seattle one day too soon!):
D-ABYU shortly after being towed out of the Paint Hangar…….Photo courtesy of Woody’s Aero Images
D-ABYU is the 19th Lufthansa 747-8i and marks the end of 3 years of 747-8i deliveries to the airline. The 747-8i made her passenger debut with Lufthansa on June 1, 2012 to rave reviews and has been nothing but a favorite of both Lufthansa and their passengers ever since.
For those of you keeping score at home, here is the timeline of Lufthansa’s 747-8i fleet:
| Aircraft Registration | Nickname | Delivered To Lufthansa |
| D-ABYA | Brandenburg | April 25, 2012 |
| D-ABYC | Sachsen | June 30, 2012 |
D-ABYD
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | August 24, 2012 |
| D-ABYF | Sachsen-Anhalt | October 23, 2012 |
| D-ABYG | Baden-Württemberg | March 12, 2013 |
| D-ABYH | Thüringen | March 27, 2013 |
| D-ABYI | Potsdam (Fanhansa Livery) | May 29, 2013 |
| D-ABYJ | Hannover | June 25, 2013 |
| D-ABYK | Rheinland-Pfalz | August 13, 2013 |
| D-ABYL | Hessen | February 6, 2014 |
| D-ABYM | Bayern | February 28, 2014 |
| D-ABYN | Niedersachsen | March 31, 2014 |
| D-ABYP | Nordrhein-Westfalen (1500th 747) | June 25, 2014 |
| D-ABYQ | Schleswig-Holstein | August 29, 2014 |
| D-ABYR | Bremen | January 26, 2015 |
| D-ABYS | | February 2015 (TBD) |
| D-ABYT | Retro-Livery | March 2015 (TBD) |
| D-ABYU | | March / April 2015 (TBD) |
For enthusiasts, this also marks the beginning of the end of the 4-engine airliner. Over the next 15-20 years, the final 747s and A380s will be phased out leaving us only with 2-engine aircraft to get excited about.
If you’d like to see my 747-8i Gallery where I’ve caught every LH 747-8i except for the elusive D-ABYK, please click here to be taken to Aero-Shots.com, my personal plane spotting archive.
Now there is one minor caveat to all of this……When I was in Seattle last week, I spoke to a few people with Boeing who are familiar with the 747-8i program and brought up the fact that there is another Lufthansa 747-8i that was never finished. D-ABYE (Line/Airframe #1435 in Boeing-Speak) was used by Boeing for certain testing in 2012/13 and at the time of its manufacture, it was turned down by Lufthansa as a deliverable aircraft.
However, during the past weeks, the aircraft that would have been D-ABYE has been seen being put back into the Factory for finishing work. There seems to be 2 strong rumors circling ‘YE’, one is that in fact Lufthansa may actually wind up taking delivery of ‘YE’ while the other rumor suggests that it will be turned into a Boeing Business Jet and sold to a private individual or Sovereign State. This mystery should resolve itself in the not-too-distant future……
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 16, 2015 | Featured, Fleet Update, Lufthansa, Photography, Plane Spotting |
After having a few hours during my flights home yesterday I finally had a chance to screen through all of my 532 photos of D-ABYT. During this process I found a few more photos that I think you’ll enjoy.
If you haven’t seen my previous posts showing D-ABYT’s first taxi test and test flight, you can get caught up here:
Part 1: Taxi Test and Inaugural Flight
Part 2: D-ABYT Returns From Inaugural Flight
Entering the runway for taxi test.
Applying brakes during taxi test
Full stop – the brakes work!
Into the clouds….
Gear retract
Away for a B1 test flight….
