Lufthansa Technik Has Finished Fitting The 1st Full German Government A350 Cabin

Completion of the cabin interior and successful test flight is the latest stage of the fleet renewal plans.

Lufthansa Technik has completed the first Airbus ACJ350 flight following the installation of a new cabin. It has flown before, but this was the first flight with the finished interior. The aircraft belongs to the German Air Force and will be used for official government travel, replacing an older fleet of Airbus A340 aircraft.

Read more: Here"s Where Lufthansa Is Flying Its Airbus A340-300s For The Rest Of 2022

Airbus A350 selected for Government travel

The Airbus ACJ350 was chosen as the new aircraft for transporting government officials worldwide. The ACJ350 is a variant of the Airbus A350 for the corporate market, and the German Air Force took delivery of the first aircraft in August 2020. Airbus Corporate Jets are a variation of the standard aircraft type and are marketed with luxury and flexibility. Germany selected the ACJ350 variant, enabling them to tailor the cabin with the luxury features required for flying government officials on state business.

The first aircraft to be delivered and entered into service was aircraft 10+03, "Kurt Schumacher". The aircraft with the newly finished Government Cabin and a successful test flight is registered as 10+01 "Konrad Adenauer".

Germany is the first country to operate a governmental Airbus A350, having previously used Airbus A340 aircraft. It was also the first time an Airbus A350 entered service without being used for commercial use.

"Kurt Schumacher" entered into service with a temporary cabin

When the first aircraft was completed in 2020, it was delivered without an interior, and Lufthansa Technik was selected to complete the work. The work is being done at the Lufthansa Technik facility in Hamburg. A temporary interior on the aircraft was initially installed, enabling it to be brought into service for the German government soon after delivery from the manufacturer. This allowed delivery of the other two aircraft and gave Lufthansa Technik time to install the final interiors.

The completion of the new cabin on 10+01 will now enable it to enter service and allow the other two aircraft in the fleet to be sent back to Lufthansa Technik to be fitted with their new interiors.

The first aircraft to be delivered and entered into service was registered as 10+03 due to it being the last aircraft of the three to be fully completed.

Conclusion of the fleet modernization program

This is the latest and final phase of the modernization of the fleet, and the German government will be pleased that they will soon have their complete fleet of modern and fully equipped aircraft. The order for the fleet was placed with Airbus in 2019 after reliability issues with the previous fleet resulted in Angela Merkel, Chancellor at the time, flying commercial.

Although the replacement aircraft has been used for some time, the updated interior will make it appear like a new aircraft again for those onboard. It is capable of ultra-long-haul routes, as demonstrated by the non-stop flight from Cologne to Canberra in 2020. The luxury interior will ensure the German Chancellor can travel comfortably.

The success of the latest test flight should keep Lufthansa Technik on schedule to deliver the aircraft to the German Air Force on schedule.