Lufthansa to commence Boeing 747-8i service to Bangalore from September 13

As Bangalore Aviation had predicted about three weeks ago, German carrier, and Boeing 747-8i launch customer, Deutsche Lufthansa will upgrade its daily Frankfurt Bangalore service, LH754/LH755, from September 13 ex-Frankfurt and September 14 ex-Bangalore, from the current Boeing 747-400, to the brand new Boeing 747-8i aircraft featuring the carrier's newest business class, and the upgraded economy class cabin products. (See photos and video.)

India was the first Asian destination for Lufthansa's Boeing 747-8i, when the carrier upgraded its Frankfurt New Delhi service from August 6. Lufthansa commenced its maiden Boeing 747-8i service the Frankfurt Washington Dulles route in June. The Bangalore route will be operated as the carrier receives its third aircraft from airframer Boeing. Chicago and Los Angeles are expected to be the carrier's fourth and fifth destinations as it receives more aircraft.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i seat map

India is the second largest international market for the carrier, after the US, and Bangalore is an important destination for Lufthansa. Bangalore is home to many German companies like auto parts major, Bosch, medical and systems major, Siemens, and IT major, SAP, to name a few.

After Bangalore's HAL airport was opened up for international operators, the airline was one of the earliest entrants in September 2001, and has maintained an uninterrupted presence since then. Lufthansa continues to be one of the most preferred international airlines at Bangalore. The Bangalore San Francisco route, with its high corporate demand for premium cabin seats, is an especially lucrative flight for the airline.

For the last few years, the carrier was loosing ground to rival, Emirates airline, which offered a superior cabin product. The airline has an modern cabin product on its Airbus A380, but could not operate the aircraft to Delhi, due to hinderance by the Indian civil aviation authorities, and to Bangalore, due to a lack of capability of the airport to receive the superjumbo Code F aircraft.

With the Boeing 747-8i, Lufthansa has introduced its newest cabin products and addressed this long standing complaint of many a traveller. The aircraft is configured with 8 First, 92 Business and 262 Economy Class seats. Full details on the features of each of the cabins can be read in this white paper.

Axel Hilgers, South Asia Director for Lufthansa says

“Bengaluru is an important destination in our global network and we expect an enthusiastic passenger response for the B747-8 and its great new on-board products. Serving India’s High Tech capital with this exceptional aircraft underlines our strong commitment to build on our success story there,” “The B747-8 features outstanding innovations in terms of technology, efficiency and in-flight comfort. In particular, introducing Lufthansa’s new Business Class to Bengaluru highlights our endeavour to provide customers there with the best Lufthansa products worldwide,”

Lufthansa has ordered a total of 20 Boeing 747-8i.

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Ethiopian Airlines beats Air India to become first non-Japanese Boeing 787 Dreamliner operator

National carrier Ethiopian Airlines beat out a dithering Air India to become the third overall, and first non-Japanese carrier to take delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

After taking delivery, Ethiopian flew its first Dreamliner ET-AOQ, to Washington D.C. Dulles airport, where the aircraft was displayed to VIP guests and media. It then made its inaugural trip to Africa and its first revenue flight from Dulles International Airport to Bole Addis Ababa International Airport.

Ethiopian Airways has nine more 787 Dreamliners remaining on order. The airline was the first African airline to operate the 777-200LR, the first to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the first to order the 777 Freighter. Ethiopian Airlines currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737, 757, 767 and 777, and now 787 airplanes in passenger service and a 757, MD11 and 747 in cargo operations.

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Lufthansa to use biosynthetic fuel on long-haul transatlantic flight

German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa announced that it will operate the first scheduled transatlantic flight using biosynthetic fuel from 12 January 2012 under its PureSky program.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 D-ABVX at Mumbai CSI airport.

A modified Boeing 747-400, carrying about 40 tonnes of a biosynthetic fuel mix, will fly from Frankfurt to Washington. With this flight alone, Lufthansa expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 38 metric tonnes, equivalent to the CO2 emissions of six scheduled flights between Frankfurt and Berlin.

The flight comes after Lufthansa announced positive results of a six-month practical trial involving biosynthetic fuel in which 1,187 biofuel flights were operated between Hamburg and Frankfurt which appear to have reduced CO2 emissions by 1,471 metric tonnes.

Lufthansa A321 D-AIDG fitted with a biofuel engine

From 15 July to 27 December 2011 a Lufthansa Airbus A321 was used to operate scheduled flights on the Hamburg-Frankfurt route. One of the aircraft’s engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of regular fuel and biosynthetic kerosene. Apart from gaining experience on the use of biofuels, the test allowed the carrier to collect long-term data and examine the effects of the biofuel on the engines and the environment.

Biosynthetic kerosene is just as reliable as conventional Jet A-1 fuel which in addition to reducing CO2 emissions by 50% also allows a 1% reduction in fuel consumption with its higher energy density. Furthermore, biosynthetic fuels are free of sulphur and aromatic compounds.

Lufthansa's biofuels project manager Joachim Buse stressed

“As a next step, we will focus on the suitability, availability, sustainability and certification of raw materials. But first we must tap into this market. However, Lufthansa will only continue the practical trial if we are able to secure the volume of sustainable, certified raw materials required in order to maintain routine operations,”

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