Edelweiss to introduce former LATAM A350s in 2025

Swiss airline Edelweiss will introduce six Airbus A350-900s into its fleet in the summer of 2025. The aircraft will replace the five A340-300s in a move that mirrors that of sister airline SWISS, which is also replacing the quads with twins in 2025. While SWISS is expected to take A350s from the Lufthansa Group order backlog with Airbus, Edelweiss has sourced the aircraft on the second-hand market. They will join from LATAM, which operated thirteen A350s between May 2016 and August 2021 but were phased out in order to simplify the fleet. Six aircraft have been acquired by Delta Air Lines. Four A350s were recently acquired by Lufthansa Group from the Bank of Utah and Wilmington Trust Company. Once with Edelweiss, they will retain the same cabin configuration as used by LATAM of 30 Business Class, 63 Premium Economy or Economy Max, and 246 Economy Class. The identity of the two other A350s has not been confirmed but could also be former LATAM aircraft. All six aircraft should be operational in 2026. “Due to worldwide material shortages and reduced maintenance & engineering capacities, the first four aircraft will initially operate in the original operator's configuration with slight modifications to the cabin and Edelweiss design,” the Swiss airline says. “Edelweiss will install a completely new cabin configuration with new seats and interior design at a later date. This will once again significantly enhance comfort and the travel experience for all guests. Edelweiss is investing a three-digit million sum for this.” The A340-300s have served Edelweiss well, but the A350s will save the airline a lot in fuel costs. (Edelweiss) Premium leisure Edelweiss is a premium leisure airline that operates on a short- and medium-haul network with thirteen Airbus A320ceo’s as well as long-haul with the five A340-300s. These aircraft are twenty years old and while still fulfilling their jobs adequately, with four engines they are more expensive to operate. Fuel burn of the A350-900s is expected to be 25 percent less compared to the A340s. Until March 2021, Edelweiss also operated two A330-200s and two -300s, but it preferred to retain the A340s. "The modernization of the long-haul fleet is a milestone in Edelweiss' almost 30-year history. Edelweiss will thus operate one of the youngest long-haul fleets in Europe from 2026," says CEO Bernd Bauer. He hit our headlines two weeks ago too, as Bauer is also CEO of Discover Airlines, the rebranded premium airline within Lufthansa Group. Together with SWISS, Edelweiss produced strong results in Q2 of this year. The A350s will be deployed on over twenty leisure destinations in the two Americas, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. Last week, Edelweiss announced increased frequencies to Vancouver, Calgary, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Denver for the 2024 summer season, while also adding capacity to Muscat, Phuket, Cape Town, Cartagena, and Bogota. Sister airline SWISS recently unveiled details of the cabin configuration of its A350-900s, of which it will get five in 2025.

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