Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) will use nine A340-300s, previously earmarked for retirement, on select long-haul routes beginning summer 2015. Germany's Spiegel magazine says Lufthansa intends to offer low-cost long-haul flights using the quadjets, which will be reconfigured with fewer business class seats.
Flights will include destinations such as the Caribbean, India, Thailand and Taiwan - areas where the airline has lost market share to the likes of Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) among others.
In a bid to keep costs down, negotiations with airport operators and staff regarding concessions are set to begin in due course.
