Lufthansa will name their first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ‘Berlin’, with the official naming ceremony and first flight to take place next year. During 2022, the airline will take delivery of of five Boeing 787-9s, which will offer reduced fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions.
On Wednesday (October 20, 2021), Lufthansa announced that they will name their first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ‘Berlin’. The official naming ceremony and first flight will take place in 2022, and during the year, the carrier will take delivery of a total of five 787-9s. The ultra-modern long-haul aircraft consumes on average only 2.5 liters of kerosene per passenger and 100 kilometers flown, about 30 percent less than the aircraft it replaces.
Since 1960, Lufthansa has had the tradition of naming aircraft after German cities, and the new 787-9 will serve as a ‘flying ambassador’ for the German capital. Willy Brandt, West Germany’s Chancellor in the late 1960s and 1970s, honored Lufthansa during his tenure as Mayor of West Berlin (1957-1966) by naming the carrier’s first Boeing 70s ‘Berlin’. More recently, an Airbus A380, registration D-AIMI, bore the prestigious name of the German capital.
Lufthansa’s first Boeing 787-9 ‘Berlin’ will be registered D-ABPA, and the aircraft’s first scheduled international destination will be Toronto, Canada. Lufthansa and Berlin have a long history together, with the pre-war company founded in the German capital in 1926. Following WWII and for the next 45 years, only civilian aircraft of the allies were permitted to land in the divided city. Since reunification, Lufthansa has been flying to Berlin for over 30 years, with Lufthansa and their fellow Group carriers flying more Berliners than any other airline. Currently, the Lufthansa Group connects Berlin to 260 global destinations, either with direct flights or connections in one of the many Group hubs.
Source: Lufthansa