Lufthansa's first Airbus A350-1000, D-AIFA "Deutschland", landed at Munich at 15:37 on Wednesday 11 November, flying in as special flight LH99012. The Lufthansa Group had announced the handover a day earlier. It is the Group's 700th Airbus, delivered 50 years after the first1. For pilots the interesting part is what did not change. Under EASA rules the new jet sits on the same licence endorsement as the A330 and the A350-900 that Lufthansa already flies6.

One endorsement, three variants

EASA's type certificate data sheet for the A350 states that the licence endorsement for both the A350-900 and the A350-1000 is "A330/A350", and that the A350-900, the A350-1000 and the A330 series are variants of the same type of aircraft6. The EASA class and type rating list groups the A330-200, -300, -800, -900 and -700L with the A350-900 and -1000 under that single endorsement7. The A330 data sheet says the same from the other side: all A330 and A350 models share the A330/350 type rating8.

That does not mean a pilot simply walks from one variant to the other. Part-FCL requires differences or familiarisation training to extend privileges to another variant within a type rating (FCL.710)9. What that training covers for each variant pair is set in the Airbus Flight Crew Data report approved by EASA, which was updated for the A350-1000 in October 20176. For Lufthansa that means A350-900 crews can be qualified on the bigger jet with the training defined in that report, without a new type rating. For an introduction to the general process, see how a type rating works.

The physical differences are mainly size and weight. At 73.80 m the A350-1000 is seven metres longer than the A350-9002. aeroTELEGRAPH gives a wingspan of 64.75 m, a maximum take-off weight of 308 tonnes and a range of 13,900 km10. The A350-1041 is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines6. "Our crews will benefit from the most modern workplace in the industry," said Heiko Reitz, member of the Lufthansa Airlines board and hub manager Munich2.

Why the A350-1000 arrived before the 777-9

The Lufthansa Group ended 2025 with 737 aircraft at an average age of 14.4 years and 219 aircraft on firm order4. The long-haul part of that order book includes 15 A350-1000s for delivery from 2026 to 2030 with 25 options, 22 A350-900s through 2031, 27 Boeing 787-9s through 2028, 20 Boeing 777-9s with 24 options and seven 777-8 freighters4. The Group plans to cut its long-haul types from 13 to ten by retiring the 747-400, 777-200ER, A340-600, A340-300, A330-200 and 767-300ER4. It calls the programme the largest fleet modernisation in its history1.

The annual report still listed 777-9 deliveries from 20264. At the end of September CEO Carsten Spohr said Lufthansa was planning its summer 2027 schedule without a single 777-9 and would keep more A340-300s flying than planned, calling that former plan B the new plan A5. He also said 26 new aircraft had arrived in 2026 so far, with 20 more to come5. Spohr says the A350-1000 burns up to 30 percent less fuel per passenger with significantly lower unit costs1. aeroTELEGRAPH reports that it will eventually replace Lufthansa's eight remaining A380s, which are set to fly into the 2030s10. Lufthansa has already retired its 747-400 fleet.

Munich, Tokyo and a denser premium cabin

The first ten A350-1000s go to the Lufthansa core brand at Munich1. The first scheduled service is to Tokyo Haneda on 3 December, followed in the next weeks by Shanghai and Singapore, with the A350-1000 and A350-900 alternating on those routes23. The aircraft seats 300 in four classes: three or four in First, 49 in Business, 35 in Premium Economy and 212 in Economy2. Lufthansa's Allegris A350-900 seats 267, with 38 in Business and 24 in Premium Economy11, so the -1000 adds 22 seats in the two premium cabins. D-AIFA is also the first long-haul aircraft in the Group with Starlink Wi-Fi from its first revenue flight2.

The same airframe is behind Project Sunrise at Qantas. The Australian airline is training more than 360 pilots for its A350-1000ULRs, the ultra long-range version of the same aircraft.

How Lufthansa recruits pilots

The Lufthansa Group trains its own ab initio pilots at the European Flight Academy in Bremen and Zurich. The programme takes about 22 to 24 months and ends with a CPL and instrument rating (frozen ATPL), after which graduates can apply for a cockpit seat at the Group's airlines12. Applicants need a DLR aptitude certificate that is still valid for at least one year, a university entrance qualification, a minimum age of 17, EU, Swiss or EFTA citizenship and English at B2 level. German at B2 is mandatory for the Swiss location12. Lufthansa has not said how many pilots it will train for the A350-1000 fleet. Pay and conditions are covered on the Lufthansa pilot salary page.