Many investors and other interested parties are anticipating a big ramp-up in traveling as the pandemic recedes. Among the most eager of these observers are airlines, which stand to recover significantly from the near-total shutdown of their industry in the thick of the outbreak.
Likely with that in mind, top European carrier Lufthansa Group (DLAK.Y +4.37%) has notably expanded its recent order for Boeing's (BA +1.39%) Dreamliners. Boeing announced Monday that the German airline added five 787-9 Dreamliners to its existing order of 20, placed in 2019 before the coronavirus hit. It did not specify a price.
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The Dreamliner is Boeing's current long-haul airliner, although its voyage hasn't been perfectly smooth. In early 2013, difficulties with the plane's lithium-ion batteries catching fire led the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to ground all 787s until a revised battery design was approved. And late last year, the company paused Dreamliner deliveries while it investigated apparent structural flaws in the carbon fiber that makes up the plane's skin.
Regardless of its hiccups, the 787 is an attractive model for globe-spanning airlines not only because of its range. Lufthansa pointed out in its press release heralding the new buy that the 787-9 can hold up to 20% more passengers and roughly 25% more cargo than the planes it is replacing in the company's big fleet. And importantly for a company trying to go greener, its fuel consumption and emissions are 25% lower than the aircraft it's supplanting.
Boeing quoted Lufthansa COO Detlef Kayser as saying that the additional 787-9s "will accelerate the modernization of our long-haul fleet."
"With these ultra-modern, fuel-efficient aircraft, we send a strong signal for environmental responsibility within the Lufthansa Group," Kayser added. "Furthermore, we will reduce our operating costs and provide our guests a state-of-the-art travel experience."
