Lufthansa expects first A350-1000 in 4Q26

Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) has announced the expected delivery in the fourth quarter of 2026 of its first factory-new A350-1000 from Airbus in Toulouse Blagnac, bearing a blue 100th-anniversary livery.

D-AIFA (msn 799), test registration F-WZNY, was ordered in March 2023 and is the first of fifteen A350-1000s, to be delivered to the German airline by 2030. Lufthansa placed two separate orders: an initial batch of 10 aircraft in March 2023, followed by an additional order for five more on December 20, 2024.

"The Airbus A350-1000 is scheduled to be transferred from Toulouse to Munich this autumn. Until then, several test flights, further work on the aircraft's interior, and the final acceptance inspection are still pending," Lufthansa Group said in a statement.

The A350-1000 seats 300 passengers in a four-class cabin. It is equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.

D-AIFA will become the 700th aircraft in Lufthansa Group and the seventh to feature the special anniversary livery, after an A350-900, an A380-800, a B787-9, a B747-8, and two A320-200Ns.

According to ch-aviation data, the next clutch of A350-1000s to be delivered will be D-AIFJ (msn 837) expected by April 2027; D-AIFB (msn 811) expected by July 2027; and D-AIFG (msn 825), to be delivered by October 2027.

A total of 117 A350-1000s are currently in service with 13 airlines worldwide, with 239 more to be delivered to 22 airlines, ch-aviation data shows. Qatar Airways is currently the biggest A350-1000 operator with 29 in service plus 13 more on order, followed by British Airways (18 plus six); Cathay Pacific (18); Etihad Airways (12 plus 15); Virgin Atlantic (12); JAL - Japan Airlines (11 plus two); Air Caraibes Atlantique (four); Ethiopian Airlines (four); Starlux Airlines (three plus 15); French Bee (two); Philippine Airlines (two plus seven); and Air India (one plus 24).