by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 3, 2017 | A350, Featured, Lufthansa, Munich, Passenger Experience |
I’m in Munich this week to attend the events surrounding the introduction of Lufthansa’s first A350 to the fleet. Though delivery happened back in December, it was last night at a special ‘Roll In’ event that the A350 was christened into service. To celebrate this important time in Lufthansa’s history, I’ll have several posts in the coming days that will cover the event. The evening was full of fantastic experiences and it would be difficult to summarize it into just one post.
The aircraft was positioned in one of Lufthansa Technik’s hangars which was filled with over 1300 guests invited by Lufthansa to share in the event. After brief addresses from key German dignitaries and leaders of Lufthansa and Airbus, the curtain was dropped to reveal ‘Nurnberg’, the name by which the A350 has been christened. Lufthansa maintains a long-standing tradition of christening their aircraft with names of various German towns and cities, as well as cities around the world that they serve.
The following photos are the very first ones that I took of the aircraft, before most of the attendees were able to gather around the aircraft. I especially liked how Lufthansa lit the aircraft in a flood of blue floodlights which really help bring out the design and architecture of the aircraft.
Enjoy these shots! Many more are on the way!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 3, 2017 | Eurowings, Featured, LCC, Munich, Passenger Experience |
Beginning in Summer 2018, Lufthansa’s low cost carrier, Eurowings, will begin serving Frankfurt as the LH Group seeks to stem the competition coming from other European LCCs.
In an article published in Airliners.de, Eurowings boss Karl Ulrich Garnadt stated that due to the pressures seen coming from Ryanair and others, it made good business sense to counter the new competition. Ryanair plans to begin service to Frankfurt this spring.
Such a move is made easier due to the fact that Eurowings will inherit 33 aircraft in the coming months after Lufthansa agreed to lease the aircraft from Air Berlin. This is of course in addition to the aircraft that will join Eurowings after the acquisition of Brussels Airlines closes. In all, the Eurowings fleet will grow to nearly 120 aircraft making it easier to operate from large hubs and to take on their competitors directly.
Previously, Eurowings announced that it will begin flying from Lufthansa’s other Mega-Hub in Munich in March. The initial timetable calls for flights to 32 cities throughout Europe, mostly towards ‘Holiday’ type destinations.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 29, 2017 | A350, Featured, Lufthansa, Munich |
In a few hours I’ll be off to MUC for what promises to be a very A350-centric week.
After clearing the hurdle of an 11 hour layover in Chicago, I’ll head to Munich where a week-long list of Lufthansa related business and activities awaits.
The week will peak with the special ‘Roll In’ event scheduled for February 2 during which the first handful of ‘civilians’ will be able to step aboard the A350 before she enters service the following week. The invitation-only event will take place inside a hangar at the airport and if it’s anything like the 747-8i ‘Roll In’ event held in 2012 in Frankfurt, it promises to be a great evening. Expect to see several posts covering that event both here and on LH’s social media outlets.
Of course, no trip to Munich is complete without plane spotting from within and around MUC, so expect to see a handful of spotting posts from a variety of different perspectives from around the airport.
Hopefully I’ll be allowed back into the US a week from now. 😉