Lufthansa Group is close to announcing replacements for Discover Airlines’ three Airbus A330-200 jets, with “new-generation” aircraft under consideration.
Speaking during the group’s second-quarter earnings call on 31 July, chief executive Carsten Spohr appeared to contradict reports last year that suggested A330-300s would replace the three -200s as their leases expire from 2026.
“We are just about to take a decision on the new-generation widebodies which Discover will need to receive to replace the A330-200s for the longest flights,” Spohr states.
“That is as much as we are willing to publish on this,” he adds.
Those A330-200s are fitted with 270 seats and feature a three-class layout, covering economy, premium economy and business class.
Flight-trackers show the variant is being used on routes from Frankfurt to markets in Africa and the Americas, including Las Vegas, while operating alongside 11 A330-300s and 16 A320-200s in Discover’s fleet.
Lufthansa Group holds outstanding orders for Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 widebodies, but none for the Airbus A330neo.
Discover is “profitable and growing”, Spohr says, and is expected to operate a fleet of up to 33 aircraft by 2027 – when it has also previously indicated it intends to launch a new business-class product.
Of Discover’s role within the group, Spohr adds: “We were happy how we found a niche, but that niche is widening and widening and widening for leisure-orientated travel out of the German market.”
Lufthansa Group boosted its operating profit by 31% in the second quarter, to €861 million ($985 million), on revenue up 3% at €10.3 billion. Its net profit more than doubled to €1.01 billion.
The group insists it is on track with its “year of transition” amid a “positive” summer, particularly in premium cabins, despite softness playing out in its key transatlantic markets.
