Lufthansa's new 787s also make Austrian Airlines 'Allegris': five Dreamliners will end up in Vienna

The revolution in Frankfurt has begun: a few days ago in Lufthansa's main hub the first of 29 Boeing 787-9s equipped with the new Allegris cabins landed.

One will arrive every two weeks between now and the end of the year, allowing the German carrier to proceed with the deep renewal of its long-haul fleet that has been overdue for years, with the Withdrawal of Airbus A340-600 and A340-300 from service. While another 787 will arrive in 2026, next year should (the conditional is a must) also be that of the first Boeing 777-9.

Lufthansa has been chosen by Boeing as the The first customer to receive version 2.0 of the Triple Seven, which is expected to happen by the first half of 2026, although recently the president of Emirates (main customer of the 777X with 205 ordered) Tim Clark 'pushed' the plane's debut more toward the second half of next year.

As the 777-9s enter service, the eight Boeing 747-400s will also exit the scene. still flying in the German carrier's colors, and the average age of the fleet (which is now almost 15 years old) should be significantly lowered.

If in Frankfurt the arrival of the first Allegris Dreamliner has triggered what will be a genuine revolution in the German company's long-haul fleet, just over 600 kilometers away, in Vienna, it will give rise to what (wanting to continue using the same kind of metaphor) could be described as a riot.

With the arrival of the Allegris, in fact, Lufthansa will get rid of the five non-Allegris Boeing 787-9s it is flying from 2022-2023. These are machines that were intended for the Chinese Hainan Airlines group, but which the latter did not take back from Boeing, allowing Lufthansa to take over the order.

The five Dreamliners, configured with 26 seats in business class, 21 in premium economy and 247 in economy, will upgrade the fleet of one of the German group's carriers, namely Austrian Airlines. Lufthansa's own media department told The Flight Club., who, however, was unable to specify the timing of that transfer.

In all likelihood, the German airline will say goodbye to the five non-Allegris 787s only after receiving the fifth of the Allegris, and it is equally likely that Austrian intends to have the aircraft available in time for next year's Summer, obviously repainted and reconfigured.

The Austrian carrier, which like the German one is 'hungry' for new airplanes for its long-range operations, already has two Boeing 787-9: it's two machines former Bamboo Airways, the Vietnamese airline that after a brief 'jump' into long-haul operations preferred to return to focus on domestic and regional flights.

The two planes, which rolled off the U.S. manufacturer's assembly line in 2019 and 2020, have the merit of also having been initially built by Boeing for Hainan Airlines, and therefore have the same configuration as the five that will arrive in Vienna from Frankfurt in the coming months: 26 seats in Business, 21 in Premium Economy and 247 in Business, which will allow minimal interventions (related to branding) on board the five 787s coming from Lufthansa.

Currently, the two 787-9s are used by Austrian to connect Vienna to New York JFK and Chicago, while the rest of the Austrian carrier's long-haul network is entrusted to 6 Boeing 777-200ERs and to 3 Boeing 767-300ERs.

The former have an average age of almost 25 years. Two are second-hand, being ex-Lauda Air (that of former formula 1 driver Niki) and two even third-hand: one is a former Aeroflot and ex-Vietnam Airlines and the other a former Varig (defunct former Brazilian flag carrier) and ex-Aeromexico. All are configured with three-class interiors which include 32 seats in Business Class, 40 seats in Premium Economy and 258 seats in Economy.

The three Boeing 767-300ERs are even 'older,' touching by average age 26 years. They are also the only 767s still operated in Europe by a full-service non-leisure carrier. They are all ex-Lauda Air and are also configured in three classes with 24 seats in Business, 30 in Premium Economy and 157 in Economy.

Likely, the 787s coming from Lufthansa should lead to the retirement of the three 767s, of which Austrian had announced its intention to get rid at least a couple of years ago, before Lufthansa's 787 Allegris were 'blocked' in the U.S. by the Federal Aviation Administration's very slow process of certifying the new Business Class cabin.

Their arrival will greatly lower the average age of the Austrian wide body fleet and provide it with more capacity, since the 787s with their 294 seats will offer 83 more seats than the 767s, which have 211 seats.