Lufthansa Technik has delivered the second and final Airbus A321LR strategic transport to the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), following an intensive testing and acceptance programme.
The aircraft (serial 15+11) departed Lufthansa Technik’s facility in Hamburg on a transfer flight to Köln-Wahn Air Base, located near Cologne in western Germany, on August 17. Prior to its departure, a small ceremony was held to officially bid farewell to the aircraft, which was attended by personnel from the Lufthansa Technik project team, the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), the Bundeswehr Technical Center for Aircraft and Aeronautical Equipment (WTD 61) and the Luftwaffe.
This delivery comes after the first A321LR (serial 15+10) was delivered to the Luftwaffe during a ceremonial handover at the ILA Berlin Airshow on June 23, 2022. In German service, the two aircraft will be used to carry out parliamentary flight and troop transport operations on short-, medium- and long-haul routes. In this configuration, each aircraft has the capacity to carry up to 136 passengers. The two aircraft were ordered by the German government on July 8, 2020.
Delivery of this second and final A321LR to the Luftwaffe marks the completion of the first phase of a wider modification project. In the coming year, both aircraft will return to Lufthansa Technik to be modified and certified for additional medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) duties under the project’s second phase. “This will expand the aircraft’s range of operations to include capabilities for the qualified air transport of wounded, injured and deceased passengers,” the firm added.
For this mission, the two A321LRs will have three different configurations, allowing them to transport up to six intensive care patients or up to 12 moderately ill/injured patients. To support this, Lufthansa Technik will deliver 12 Patiententransporteinheit Neuer Generation (PTE NG, Patient Transport Unit New Generation) to the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces). The firm was able to complete preliminary work on both A321LRs for the MEDEVAC mission during the first phase of the project.
