Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) has inked an agreement with aircraft dismantling company Aerocircular to dispose of fifteen A320-200 aircraft coming both from the German carrier's own fleet and, potentially, purchased from other operators for spare parts.
Aerocircular said in a press release that the new agreement with Lufthansa Technik AG is a follow-up to earlier successful partnership wherein the Belgian company dismantled one of Lufthansa's A340 quadjets at Frankfurt International airport.
The first ex-Lufthansa Group A320 for dismantling arrived at Aerocircular's facility at Ostend airport in early July 2019. ch-aviation research has revealed that the aircraft is D-AIPW (msn 137), a 29-year-old unit last operated by germanwings (4U, Cologne/Bonn). The Airbus twinjet owned by Lufthansa Asset Management Leasing has accumulated 67,586 flight hours and 53,529 flight cycles through the end of May 2019, ch-aviation fleets shows. It was ferried from Cologne/Bonn to Ostend on July 9, 2019, according to Flightradar24 ADS-B data.
Aerocircular said that it expected a second A320 to arrive in Ostend at the end of October 2019. In the meantime, the company will also dismantle Lufthansa's aircraft at various airports in Germany.
Aerocircular aims to reuse all materials originating from aircraft in the most sustainable and ecological way possible, as opposed to the traditional method of scrapping.
Separately, Aviation Week has reported that Lufthansa started blocking the last row of seats on its A320-200neo aircraft, responding to the recent European Air Safety Agency (EASA) circular limiting the type's centre-of-gravity. The manufacturer issued temporary revisions to the flight manual after the July directive, acknowledging that it was "necessary to implement an Aft CG limitation for the A320neo".
Lufthansa's A320neo are equipped with 180 passenger seats, while the carrier's A320-200s have either 168 or 180 seats.
