Lufthansa will retire its A380 and 747-400

Photo: Aero Icarus 

Due to the global pandemic crisis in 2020, many airlines had significant losses and had to reshape their aircraft fleet and business strategy.

The Lufthansa group reported that it ended 2020 with net losses of 6,700 million euros, from 36 million euros to 13 million euros in profit.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Lufthansa spent €300 million in cash per month. A quarter earlier, the group used 206 million euros of its cash reserves monthly. For all these reasons, the airline will dispose of older aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-400.

The only point in favor of 2020 for Lufthansa was Lufthansa Cargo's performance, which the group said was the only company that made "a positive contribution to profits, reporting a record result." While the cargo division's capacity dropped by 39% due to land passenger planes and the consequent loss of cargo capacity in the belly, the average occupancy rate was 69.6%. Concerning the previous year, the occupancy rate increased by 8.2%. According to Lufthansa, cargo handling increased by 54.6%.

Even though it is sending its 747-400s into storage and possibly leaving the fleet for good, Lufthansa still has the -8 version in its fleet. The airline doesn't intend to get rid of the Boeing giant any time soon, also taking into consideration that the planes are relatively new.

However, the company said in its earnings release that it plans to shrink the models used for long-haul flights. The company should receive Boeing 777X and Airbus A350 aircraft in the coming years to replace the four-engine.

Lufthansa aircraft utilization on the RadarBox:

Lufthansa flight statistics on the RadarBox: