Lufthansa will put its first Airbus A350-1000 into passenger service on a Munich–Tokyo Haneda flight on 3 December 2026, the airline said on Thursday, anchoring the stretched twinjet at its Bavarian long-haul hub.
In a Lufthansa Group newsroom statement dated 15 October 2026, the carrier said the first A350-1000 will ferry from Airbus in Toulouse to Munich in mid-November. After final preparation work in Germany, the type's first revenue flight will be Munich–Tokyo/Haneda on 3 December. Shanghai and Singapore will follow in the weeks after, with Allegris cabins and alternating A350-1000 and A350-900 flying on those routes.
Munich's new long-haul flagship
Heiko Reitz, a Lufthansa Airlines board member and Munich hub manager, called the A350-1000 Airbus's most modern long-haul aircraft and said the type strengthens Munich as a premium hub. Compared with the A350-900 already in the fleet, the airline says the -1000 offers about 40 percent more Business and Premium Economy seats in its planned layout.
"To put it simply: The A350-1000 strengthens our premium hub in Munich," Reitz said in the company release. The introduction is framed as part of the largest fleet modernisation in Lufthansa Group history and as a lever for lower fuel burn on long Asian sectors that already define Munich's bank structure.
The first aircraft, registration D-AIFA and named Deutschland, is also the 700th Airbus delivered to the Lufthansa Group and the seventh jet in the group's 100th-anniversary special-livery fleet, according to the company.
Fifteen on order, ten for Munich
Lufthansa Group has ordered 15 A350-1000s for delivery through 2030. The first ten will fly for Lufthansa and be based in Munich. At 73.80 metres, the -1000 is seven metres longer than the A350-900. Lufthansa's announced four-class layout seats 300 passengers: three to four First seats including Suite Plus, 49 Business seats with eight in suites, 35 Premium Economy and 212 Economy.
The aircraft uses two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines and more than 50 percent composites and advanced alloys. Lufthansa says that package cuts fuel burn and CO2 emissions by about 25 percent versus previous-generation types and meets ICAO Chapter 14 noise limits with margin.
Allegris on the showcase routes
Tokyo Haneda, Shanghai and Singapore will all be flown with the Allegris cabin product, the airline said, with the new -1000 and existing A350-900s sharing the flying. That approach lets Lufthansa ramp the type without overnighting an entire route on a single airframe while crews and maintenance learn the Trent XWB-97 installation.
The A350-1000 arrival also fits the same long-haul renewal that is pushing older four-engine types out of the schedule. For passengers, the near-term change is concrete: from early December, Munich–Tokyo Haneda becomes the showcase for the new widebody, with Shanghai and Singapore next as more jets arrive from Toulouse.
For Munich travellers, the practical change arrives with the December timetable: Allegris long-haul seats on the new flagship type on the Tokyo Haneda bank, then on to Shanghai and Singapore as more A350-1000s join the hub.
Sources: Lufthansa Group Newsroom, Air Data News, aero.de.
Comments
Loading comments…