A successful cooperation:
Lufthansa and Boeing

Celebrating 50 years - From the Boeing 707 to the
Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental

Lufthansa entered the jet age with Boeing 50 years ago. The airline and airplane manufacturer, both pre-eminent in the aviation industry, can look back on half a century of close and successful cooperation. Both companies do not shy away from taking the next step forward, and push technology and innovation to the next level. Together, Lufthansa and Boeing constantly work on even more efficient and environmentally progressive airplanes.

Lufthansa commenced scheduled jet service with a Boeing 707 on a direct flight from Hamburg to New York on 17 March 1960. With this jetliner, Boeing accomplished a quantum leap: Seating 168 passengers, the new aircraft accommodated nearly twice as many passengers compared to the biggest propeller plane at the time. Flying at a higher altitude, the 707 halved flying time from Hamburg to New York to around eight hours.

Since then, the airline business has continued to advance on many fronts. New technologies and materials have made flying even safer and more efficient. Passenger comfort has risen to unprecedented levels. Fuel consumption has been reduced by more than 70 per cent since the 1970s. For the future the air transport industry will work together on new design criteria, then evaluate and implement them.

Boeing and Lufthansa are taking their successful cooperation and shared commitment to innovation a major step forward with the introduction of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airplane. Lufthansa will soon be welcoming the latest Boeing model into its fleet. The airline placed orders with Boeing for a total of 20 Boeing 747-8 Intercontinentals. The new 747-8 is cleaner, quieter and more fuel efficient than its predecessor, the 747-400, and adopts the interior cabin architecture and lighting technologies inspired by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.