Lufthansa has given the go-ahead for an order of 15 Airbus A380 jumbo jets after postponing the decision following September 11th.
The company says the order is a strategic investment and the aircraft will be delivered in the third quarter of 2007.
In September, the board decided to freeze talks on purchasing the A380s as well as four Boeing 747-400 jets. The A380, which is timetabled to enter service in 2006, would be the largest passenger aircraft ever, with 555 seats in a three-class layout.
Airbus already has 82 orders for the A380 aircraft from other air carriers and a leasing company, and it expects to reach 100 orders by early next year. The A380 is designed to compete with the Boeing 747, which has more than 400 seats.
Some airline analysts have questioned whether the industry needs such a big jet and whether Airbus will make enough money on the plane to justify its development costs, estimated at over $10 billion.
But Airbus says it is confident that the airline business will revive by the time the A380 comes into service, and that the aircraft is the best solution for increasingly crowded long-haul routes.
Lufthansa says its passenger traffic has dropped 20 per cent since the attacks on New York and Washington. The company has mothballed 43 aircraft and dropped some of its less-travelled routes to cut costs.
PA