Lufthansa chose the fine airport of Munich to roll in the new Airbus A350-900 with an aircraft, spectacular light show and an official unveiling ceremony in the Lufthansa Technik Hangar. The aircraft has been named after the city of Nuremberg.
A media show with light projections served as a 10-minute ‘fireworks’. In the presence of 2,000 employees and guests, the world’s most advanced long-haul aircraft was then christened and named after the city of Nuremberg. The Senior Mayor of Nuremberg, Dr Ulrich Maly, took on the role of the aircraft’s ‘godfather’. There were also speeches from Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive, Lufthansa Group, and from the Bavarian Finance Minister, Dr Markus Söder; Dr Michael Kerkloh, Chief Executive, Munich Airport; and Thomas Enders, Chief Executive, Airbus. “With the A350-900 we introduce our 2-liter fleet, a milestone in our fleet strategy as its entry into service marks a generational change on long-haul routes”, Carsten Spohr said in his address.
From 10th February, Lufthansa will base the first 10 Airbus A350-900 aircraft in Munich and the first destinations will be New Delhi and Boston. The aircraft will have room for 293 passengers – 48 in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy Class and 224 in Economy Class.It is worth noting that Economy class on the A-350-900 is only 7 across unlike other carriers who are increasing the Economy class configuration to 10 across on some of their aircraft.
The A350-900 is the world’s most advanced and most environmentally friendly long-haul aircraft. It uses 25% less kerosene, produces 25% fewer emissions and is significantly quieter on take-off than comparable types of aircraft.
Lufthansa will be the first airline worldwide to use a range of different settings for the onboard lighting of the A350-900 that are designed to fit with the day- and night-time biorhythms of the passengers. Any passengers who have ever travelled across a number of time zones will know the problem – your body clock gets out of sync. With the introduction of Lufthansa’s new A350-900, it has now for the first time become possible to work with and fit with the biorhythms of the passengers by providing the right type of light at the right time.
Lighting effects will also be used to emulate a pleasant restaurant atmosphere on board during mealtimes.
