Lufthansa Group has agreed a firm purchase agreement covering five additional Airbus A350-1000s, bringing its total orders of the variant to 15. The German airline group notes that it has also ordered a total of 60 A350-900s. Fleets data indicates that 32 of these have already been delivered. Deliveries under the latest deal are scheduled for 2028-30. "With the state-of-the-art A350 long-haul jets, we are accelerating the largest fleet modernisation in our history," states Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr. "We are investing more than ever before in our history to make air transport more sustainable, to achieve our CO2 reduction targets and at the same time offer our customers the highest level of comfort with a first-class travel experience." The group first ordered the A350-1000 in March 2023, signing a firm agreement for 10 jets scheduled to arrive from April 2026. In total, Lufthansa Group has outstanding orders for around 250 aircraft, including 100 long-haul jets which will replace the carrier’s four-engined aircraft as they are phased out, namely the Boeing 747-400, Airbus A340-600 and A340-300. "Including today's order, Lufthansa Group has ordered 770 aircraft from Airbus throughout its history and is proud to be the Airbus's largest customer worldwide," adds Spohr. "With the upcoming integration of ITA Airways in January, the Airbus fleet of Lufthansa Group airlines will grow by another 100 short- and long-haul aircraft." The A350-900 can carry up to 350 passengers in a typical three-class configuration, says Airbus. The figure for the A350-1000 is 410.

Azerbaijan Airlines and Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air have announced further suspensions of services to Russia in the wake of the crash of flight J2-8243 on 25 December. The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190, flying from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, was forced to make an emergency landing near Aktau in Kazakhstan when it crashed with a large loss of life. Azerbaijan Airlines said on 26 December that it would suspend services from Baku to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa and Samara, in addition to cancellations to Grozny and Makhachkala announced a day earlier. The carrier will continue to offer services elsewhere in Russia, including Moscow and St Petersburg. Cirium data shows that the carrier operated to 13 Russian destinations in November. "This decision, made in accordance with the Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation Authority, is based on the preliminary results of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft operating the Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 of Azerbaijan Airlines due to physical and technical external interference and considers potential risks to flight safety," it states. "The suspension will remain in effect until the completion of the final investigation." Qazaq Air said it would temporarily suspend flights between Astana and Yekaterinburg from 28 December until 27 January. The move is being "carried out to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members based on the results of an ongoing risk assessment of flights to Russia", the airline says. A resumption of flights will be based on a fresh risk assessment. Qazaq Air will continue to operate flights to Omsk and Novosibirsk.

KLM has concluded the installation of newly introduced premium economy seats across its Boeing long-haul fleet. Collins Aerospace MiQ seats were installed on the Dutch carrier's Boeing 787s between 2022 and mid-2023, and on its 777s subsequently. The 777s' cabin reconfiguration also included installation of new business seats, KLM notes. It adds that in total 54 aircraft have been fitted with the new premium-economy section. Seat numbers vary between 21 and 28 per aircraft, depending on model. The installations took between four and 16 days per aircraft. Fleets data shows that the SkyTeam carrier has 16 777-300ERs, 15 777-200ERs, 13 787-9s and 10 787-10s. It has another five 787-10s on order. KLM's long-haul fleet additionally includes 11 Airbus A330s (six -200s and five -300s), which will not be fitted with premium economy seats. "The A330s will continue flying for a few more years [and] be replaced by the new A350s starting in 2026," KLM tells, adding that the A330-300s will receive new Recaro 3710 economy seats and updated IFE screens before their exit from KLM's fleet. Air France-KLM last year placed an order for up to 90 A350s. The deal includes both A350-900s and -1000s. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2026. KLM previously said it would use the A350s to replace 777-200ERs too. The introduction of premium economy meets demand from leisure and business travellers, says the airline. "The first feedback from our passengers has been very positive," states chief experience officer Barry ter Voert.