Lufthansa Takes Delivery of Its First A350-1000, D-AIFA, the Group’s 700th Airbus Jet

Lufthansa took delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 in Toulouse, France, on November 10, 2026. The jet, registered D-AIFA and named “Deutschland,” is also the 700th aircraft Airbus has delivered to the Lufthansa Group, both companies said.

Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr and Lars Wagner, who runs Airbus’s commercial aircraft business, attended the handover. The airline said the jet is due to fly to its Munich base on November 11.

What happens next

In Munich, Lufthansa will prepare the aircraft for its first passenger flight, to Tokyo Haneda on December 3, 2026. AeroCorner covered that launch plan, and the jet’s 300-seat layout, when Lufthansa picked Haneda for the debut in October.

Singapore and Shanghai come next. Simple Flying reports that Singapore is scheduled from December 12 and Shanghai from December 18; Lufthansa’s own releases name both cities but give no dates.

The delivery release adds one new detail for passengers. From its first flight on December 3, D-AIFA will be the first long-haul aircraft in the Lufthansa Group with the group’s Starlink-based Wi-Fi.

Lufthansa says the service will be free in every cabin for Miles & More members and Travel ID users. The group began rolling Starlink out earlier this year, starting with a first Starlink flight in August.

All four cabins are Lufthansa’s Allegris product. Spohr called the type “the world’s most modern long-haul aircraft” and said it “uses up to 30 percent less fuel per passenger” while lowering unit costs.

The 15-jet order and the A350-900 fleet

The Lufthansa Group has ordered 15 Airbus A350-1000s, all scheduled for delivery by 2030. The first ten will fly for Lufthansa’s main brand and be based in Munich, according to the airline.

The order came in two steps. As AeroTime recounts, the first ten were ordered in March 2023, and five more followed in December 2024.

The -1000 joins a large fleet of its smaller sibling. In June, Lufthansa said it had 43 A350-900s and had firmed up an order for 10 more, bringing its A350 orders to 75 including the -1000.

The difference is size. At 73.80 meters, about 242 feet, the A350-1000 is seven meters (roughly 23 feet) longer than the A350-900, Lufthansa says, and its version seats 300 passengers in First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.

That makes the -1000 the bigger of Lufthansa’s two A350s rather than a new type. In October, the airline said the two variants would alternate on the first three routes, so a passenger booked on one of them may still get the smaller jet.

Why the 700th Airbus matters to Lufthansa

The milestone lands in a symbolic year. Lufthansa is marking its 100th anniversary, and D-AIFA is the seventh aircraft in its fleet painted in the anniversary livery.

It also closes 50 years of Airbus deliveries to the airline, which began with an A300 in 1976. Spohr said the 700th delivery came “exactly 50 years after the first Airbus delivery to Lufthansa.”

Lufthansa calls the group the world’s largest Airbus customer. Airbus, in its own release, says the group flies the A220, A320 family, A330, A340, A350 and A380, and was the launch operator of the A321, A320neo and A340-200.

The new jet is part of what Lufthansa describes as the largest fleet modernization in its history. The airline retired its last A340-600 in October and plans to retire the A340-300, A330-200 and 747-400 by 2027, replacing them with A350-1000s and Boeing 777-9s.

For Munich Airport, the delivery confirms its role as the base for Lufthansa’s newest long-haul flagship. Spohr said the A350-1000 will become the airline’s flagship at the Munich hub.