Lufthansa Unveils First A350-1000 In Bold 100th Anniversary Livery
Lufthansa revealed its first Airbus A350-1000 on July 14, rolling the aircraft out of the Airbus paint shop in Toulouse in a special blue livery marking the carrier's 100th anniversary, the Lufthansa Group said.
The aircraft, registered D-AIFA and named "Deutschland," is the first of 15 A350-1000s Lufthansa has on firm order, with deliveries running through 2030. It will also carry a second distinction: when handed over, it becomes the 700th Airbus aircraft delivered to the Lufthansa Group.
File photo: An Airbus A350-1000 test aircraft (F-WMIL) in manufacturer house colors at the 2019 Paris Air Show — not Lufthansa's D-AIFA. (Photo: New York-air / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Centenary colors, autumn delivery
The jet wears a blue fuselage with an oversized white crane and the markings "1926 | 2026" and "100," a scheme that consumed 432 litres of blue and 246 litres of white paint, according to the Lufthansa Group newsroom. It is the seventh aircraft in the anniversary livery, joining an A350-900, an A380, a Boeing 787-9, a 747-8 and two A320neos already in service.
The unveiling is not yet the handover. The aircraft still faces test flights, further interior work and a final acceptance inspection before its transfer to Munich, planned for autumn 2026. Data provider ch-aviation has reported Lufthansa expects the delivery in the fourth quarter. Initial routes have not been announced.
New type, bigger engines
The A350-1000 makes Lufthansa a new operator of the stretched variant, which at 73.8 metres is about seven metres longer than the 31 A350-900s already in its fleet. Lufthansa's -1000s are configured for around 300 passengers in four classes — First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy — with the airline's Allegris cabin generation, per Air Data News.
File photo: A Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 — the smaller sibling of the new -1000 — at Munich Airport in 2020. (Photo: Anna Zvereva / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Unlike the -900, the type is powered exclusively by the larger Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 — a different engine from the Trent XWB-84 that powers the rest of Lufthansa's A350 fleet.
Until the Boeing 777-9 arrives — Lufthansa is the launch customer, with first deliveries expected in 2027, per Air Data News — the A350-1000 will be the largest twinjet in the airline's fleet, taking over long-haul flying from the four-engined A340-600.
