Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr admitted on Friday that the airline is in talks with Boeing about a possible order for the 777X freighter.
“We have been negotiated about this morning, but there is much more negotiation to be done,” Spohr said during a visit of the 777-9 test aircraft.
The aircraft participated in the Dubai Airshow last week and made a stopover in Frankfurt to be presented to Lufthansa, the airline that will receive the first 777-9 possibly in late 2023.
Lufthansa Cargo currently operates an exclusive fleet of 777F jets after retiring its latest MD-11.
The event in the Middle East was touted as the stage for the launch of the so-called “777XF”, but Boeing frustrated expectations by saying that the new version is not yet a priority.
At the Dubai Airshow, Airbus took the lead by officially launching the A350F, a freighter variant slightly smaller than the A350-1000 and capable of carrying up to 109 tonnes.
The European planemaker has already announced two interested parties, Air Lease Corporation, which has ordered seven planes, and French group CMA CGM, which has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for four units.
Despite that, Boeing is still talking to potential customers such as Qatar Airways and which could be the launching customer of the model – it is expected that the announcement now takes place by the end of this year.
