Lufthansa to buy 35 Airbus planes
21 September 2006Lufthansa, Europe’s No. 2 airline, plans to order 35 aircraft valued at as much as $3.12 billion from Airbus, expanding the fleet to meet growing competition. The carrier plans a second purchase later this year.
The airline will buy five A319 models, 10 A320s and 15 A321s for short-haul services and five A330-300s for long-distance routes, with deliveries starting next year, Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa said in a statement Wednesday. The carrier also plans to take an option for 30 additional A320-series aircraft and is still in talks about a long-haul plane order.
Lufthansa added routes and cut prices in Europe this year to counter low-cost carriers such as Dublin, Ireland-based Ryanair. The German airline has bought rivals and arranged routes to encourage connecting traffic through three hubs in central Europe, even as competitor Air France-KLM Group grows faster and wins trans-Atlantic market share.
source: Seattlepi.com
