"Planes in Frankfurt too old." Lufthansa's contingency plan for Summer 2025 is triggered.

Boeing 777-9s won't be seen until well into 2026, with the 787-9s carrying the new Allegris cabins that are still stuck in the U.S. pending certification by the Federal Aviation Administration.

And with peak season traffic in sight as Summer 2025 opens, Lufthansa has been running for cover. Frankfurt-based fleet, the more important of the German company's two hubs, is getting older and older, and the Germans are trying to 'buffer' the situation waiting for the new aircraft (61 deliveries theoretically planned between now and the end of 2027) arrive 'home'.

How. By moving some of the Munich-based A350-900s to Frankfurt. Four have already been operating since March 30 on routes to Shanghai and Seoul, and two more will be added on May 1 and July 1 connecting Denver and Seattle, respectively. "We have an aging fleet, and in anticipation of the arrival of the new planes we have decided to operate some of our 'state of the art' A350s from Frankfurt to offer our passengers a better travel experience," explained the German airline's CEO, Jens Ritter.

A few months ago his 'boss, Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr, had directly attacked Boeing, complaining that "we should have already had as many as 41 new airplanes in the fleet, and instead because of delivery delays we are forced to extend the use of A340s, which we would like to withdraw from service instead."

Ihe 'problem' with Airbus four-engine aircraft are the interiors, which are dated as are those of the Boeing 747-400s also based in Frankfurt. It's a little better with the 747-8s in the sense that the planes are much newer and so is the interior, but the fact remains that business class is in a 2-2-2 configuration, and First is certainly not at the level of others now on board competing airlines from Lufthansa or the Allegris installed on A350s.

To date, the German carrier still has 8 Boeing 747-400s in its fleet with an average age of 25 years in addition to 8 Airbus A340-600s and 17 Airbus A340-300s (with an average age of 23 years), all based in Frankfurt.

All Airbus A380s and all 30 Airbus A350s are (or, at least, were before the recent transfer of some to FRA) based in Munich. The German carrier, on long-, long-haul, also employs 8 A330-300s with an average age of around 15 years.