For you avgeeks near a few select German airports, Lufthansa has announced that the A350 will have a series of crew training flights tomorrow starting at 9:00a (departure from Munich), and returning to Munich at 5:00p
Here are the details per @LufthansaNews:
Related: ‘The Lady in ‘Blau’
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!
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. 😉
As Lufthansa refines their timetable for Spring and Summer 2017 and beyond, they’ve released a few updates as it pertains to operations out of Munich:
Munich – Denver effective May 1 will be flown by an A340-600, which replaces an Airbus A330 on the route.
Munich – Miami effective between March 26 and April 30 will be flown by an A340-600, replacing an A330 on the route. The A330 returns on May 1.
Munich – Riyadh effective March 26 decreases from 4x/week service to 3x/week service.
Munich – Tehran effective October 30 (Fall/Winter 17/18) will be reduced from 4x/week to 3x/week.
Munich – Vancouver effective May 1 will be served exclusively by an A330 vs a combination of A340 & A330 flights.
Earlier today, amid poor conditions at Munich, Lufthansa’s first A350 (D-AIXA) finally touched down at her new home base to begin what should be a long and successful career.
As I mentioned in earlier posts, D-AIXA will begin a concentrated schedule starting tomorrow that will take her around Germany to allow pilots to gain certification to fly the A350. After this 7-10 day marathon, LH Technik will complete the installation of parts of the interior and other items before being released into service. The first event is scheduled for February 2 where the A350 will enjoy a ‘Roll In’ reception in Munich that I’ll be attending. Then on February 9, D-AIXA will fly a special roundtrip between Munich and Hamburg and then on February 10 she’ll begin regularly scheduled service between Munich and Delhi.
Lufthansa captured nearly every minute today of the A350 as it flew from Toulouse to Munich. Below you’ll find a series of photos and videos that LH had posted throughout the day celebrating the new milestone for the airline. All photos and videos are courtesy of Lufthansa.
This morning in Toulouse, ahead of the delivery flight:
Unsere neue #LHA350 – wunderschön – ich nehme Euch mit auf eine Tour ums Flugzeug https://t.co/Kf10gbdnfa
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) December 21, 2016
Video showing Take Off on the A350’s Inflight Entertainment System:
Wir starten! #LHA350 https://t.co/OwbYm1YtYT
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) December 21, 2016
Cruising towards Munich:
Video showing arrival in Munich through the eyes of the Aircraft’s cameras:
Die #LHA350 landet in München! Ihr seid live dabei! https://t.co/6fuSgZxAUV
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) December 21, 2016
Ground perspective of the A350’s arrival in Munich:
There she is! #LHA350 First landing @muenchen_de @airbus @StadtMuenchen @MUC_Airport pic.twitter.com/XGuyZcPGNi
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) December 21, 2016
Cockpit Video showing the A350 taxiing in Munich:
Wir sind dahoam! Hallo München! #LHA350 https://t.co/48LGroTdM5
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) December 21, 2016
Welcome committee at Munich:
Nochmal live aus dem Cockpit – Die Lufthansa #LHA350 ist in München https://t.co/aZFZHsi2Vh
— Lufthansa News (@lufthansaNews) December 21, 2016
One last shot before being taken to the hangar for the evening….
