Lufthansa Group has exercised options for 20 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft, raising its total Boeing 737 MAX order to 60 aircraft, the German airline group said in a statement.

The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG approved the move, the company said. The options were secured under a 2023 order for 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which also included 60 purchase options for aircraft from the 737 MAX family. These are the first 737 MAX 10 aircraft in the group's order book.

Deliveries of the 737 MAX 10 are scheduled to begin in the early 2030s. The aircraft are intended to gradually replace older Airbus A320 family jets across the group, which the company said would strengthen its long-term capacity planning.

Lufthansa described the 737 MAX 10 as the largest member of the 737 MAX family, with more seats than the 737 MAX 8 already on order. It said the aircraft consumes about 30 percent less fuel than the older jets it will replace, and that its higher seating capacity cuts unit costs by about 20 percent. The company said the order would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve efficiency on European routes.

The order has a list value of about $3.4 billion, according to Lufthansa. List prices are typically higher than the prices airlines actually pay after negotiated discounts. The statement did not give the price Lufthansa will pay.

The company said the order is part of its fleet modernisation programme, under which it expects to take delivery of more than 250 new aircraft by 2035.

The statement did not name the airlines within the group that will operate the new aircraft, and it did not include comments from company executives.

Source: PR