Lufthansa’s First Airbus A350-1000 Arrives with Special Livery

In just a few weeks, Lufthansa’s special anniversary fleet will welcome another addition: The very first A350-1000 that Lufthansa Airlines will take delivery of from Airbus was painted at the Toulouse plant in blue, featuring a white XXL crane and the lettering “1926 | 2026” and “100” – using a total of 432 liters of blue paint and 246 liters of white paint.

The Airbus A350-1000 is scheduled to be transferred from Toulouse to Munich this fall. Until then, several test flights, further work on the aircraft’s interior, and the final acceptance inspection are still pending. The A350-1000 will bear the registration number D-AIFA and the name “Deutschland.” An official naming ceremony is scheduled to take place at a later date. What makes this first A350-1000 special is that it will be the 700th aircraft that Airbus has delivered to the Lufthansa Group.

With a length of 73.80 meters, the Airbus A350-1000 is exactly seven meters longer than its smaller brother, the Airbus A350-900. This long-haul aircraft can accommodate a total of 300 passengers across four travel classes: First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class. Fifteen aircraft of this type have been ordered and will be delivered by 2030.

The new A350-1000 is the seventh aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet to feature a special livery commemorating the airline’s 100th anniversary. Already in service on long-haul routes are an Airbus A350-900, an Airbus A380, a Boeing 787-9, and a Boeing 747-8, as well as two short- and medium-haul Airbus A320neo aircraft featuring this special design. The special livery is attracting a great deal of attention and enthusiasm from passengers and plane spotters worldwide.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.