Lufthansa Group Exercises Options for 20 Boeing 737 MAX 10s

Lufthansa Group has exercised options for 20 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft, expanding its commitment to the 737 MAX family from 40 to 60 aircraft and adding the largest variant of the type to its fleet plans.

What the Group Approved

The supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG approved the exercise on 17 September 2026. The rights come from a 2023 order for 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which also carried 60 purchase options for further aircraft in the MAX family. Lufthansa has now taken up the first 20, leaving rights over another 40.

The group valued the 20-aircraft purchase at roughly US$3.4 billion at list prices. Deliveries of the MAX 10 are due to begin in the early 2030s. The aircraft will gradually replace older Airbus A320-family jets across the group.

The group has not said which of its airlines will operate the MAX 10s. By contrast, all 40 of the MAX 8s from the original order have been assigned to Eurowings, the group’s point-to-point carrier, where they will replace Airbus A319s and older A320-family aircraft.

The Efficiency Case

Lufthansa says the MAX 10 will burn around 30% less fuel than the aircraft it replaces and will reduce unit costs by about 20%. The group’s own summary frames the order as part of a modernisation programme in which it expects to take more than 250 new aircraft by 2035.

The MAX 10 is the longest variant of the 737 MAX family. Its extra capacity compared with the MAX 8 gives airlines more seats per departure, which matters at congested European airports where slots are limited and growth has to come from larger aircraft rather than more movements.

A Boeing Order Inside an Airbus-Heavy Fleet

Because the aircraft are replacing A320-family jets, the order grows the share of Boeing narrowbodies in a group that has long relied on the Airbus A320 family. That adds a second type to support, from crew training to spare parts, but also gives the group two manufacturers to deal with on price and delivery slots.

The early-2030s delivery window is a long way off, so the order is mostly a statement of intent about fleet shape for the next decade. Lufthansa’s earlier commitment in May, for 10 Airbus A350-900s and 10 Boeing 787-9s, covered the long-haul fleet; this narrowbody order addresses the short- and medium-haul network, where the oldest A320-family aircraft are the main replacement candidates. The group says it will take delivery of more than 250 new aircraft by 2035 across both programmes.