COLOGNE— Lufthansa (LH) has revealed the paint scheme of its first Airbus A350-1000, which left the paint shop at the Airbus plant in Toulouse (TLS) wearing a special blue livery marking the airline’s 100th anniversary.
The widebody is scheduled to fly from Toulouse (TLS) to Munich (MUC) this fall, joining a long-haul fleet centred on Frankfurt (FRA). It will also become the 700th aircraft Airbus has delivered to the Lufthansa Group.
Lufthansa Unveils First A350-1000 with New Livery
The aircraft carries a blue fuselage with an oversized white crane, the airline’s traditional emblem, applied in XXL format. The design also features the lettering “1926 | 2026” alongside the numeral “100,” referencing the century of operating history Lufthansa is marking in 2026.
According to Lufthansa, the paint job consumed 432 litres of blue paint and 246 litres of white paint. The scheme was applied at the Airbus facility in Toulouse, where the aircraft was assembled.
The A350-1000 becomes the seventh aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet to wear the anniversary design, and the first of the type to do so.
Registration, Name, and Delivery Timeline
The aircraft will be registered D-AIFA and will carry the name “Deutschland.” An official naming ceremony is planned for a later date, which the airline has not yet announced.
Before the handover, several steps remain outstanding. Airbus and Lufthansa must complete a series of test flights, finish work on the cabin interior, and carry out the final acceptance inspection. Only after those milestones will the aircraft be transferred to Munich.
The delivery carries additional significance for both companies. D-AIFA will be the 700th aircraft handed over by Airbus to the Lufthansa Group across its airlines.
What the A350-1000 Brings to the Fleet
The Airbus A350-1000 measures 73.80 metres in length, making it exactly seven metres longer than the A350-900 that Lufthansa already operates.
The additional fuselage length translates into a larger cabin. Lufthansa will configure the type for 300 passengers across four cabins: First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class. The four-class layout aligns the aircraft with Lufthansa’s premium long-haul positioning.
Lufthansa has ordered 15 A350-1000s in total. Deliveries are scheduled to run through 2030, giving the airline a steady intake of the type across the second half of the decade.
The Anniversary Fleet in Service
The special livery is already visible across several fleets. Aircraft carrying the centenary design and operating on long-haul routes include an Airbus A350-900, an Airbus A380, a Boeing 787-9, and a Boeing 747-8.
Two Airbus A320neo aircraft carry the same scheme on short- and medium-haul services, giving passengers within Europe a chance to see the design without booking an intercontinental flight.
Lufthansa states that the livery has drawn strong interest from passengers and aviation photographers worldwide, with spotters tracking the aircraft across the network.
Lufthansa’s Wider Fleet Position
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is headquartered in Cologne and operates its main hub at Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA), with a second major base at Munich Franz Josef Strauss (MUC). The airline was founded on 6 January 1953 and began operations on 1 April 1955 as the successor to the pre-war carrier.
The mainline fleet currently stands at 269 aircraft, of which 258 are in service, and 11 are parked. A further 25 aircraft are on order or planned. The average fleet age sits at 14.1 years according to Planespotters.net.
Within that fleet, the Airbus A350 family accounts for 31 aircraft in service with an average age of 6.2 years, and three more are listed as future deliveries.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet numbers 18 aircraft with eight more to come, at an average age of 3.1 years.
Both types, alongside the incoming A350-1000, sit at the centre of Lufthansa’s effort to replace older widebodies such as the Airbus A340 and Boeing 747, which carry average ages of 24.2 years and 16.8 years respectively.
Bottom Line
The first Lufthansa A350-1000 combines three separate milestones in a single airframe: the airline’s first example of the largest A350 variant, the 700th Airbus delivered to the Lufthansa Group, and the seventh aircraft to wear the 100th anniversary livery.
Once test flying and cabin work are complete, D-AIFA “Deutschland” will make the short hop from Toulouse to Munich and enter a fleet still working through one of the largest widebody renewal programmes in Europe.
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News
