Lufthansa Group has agreed deals with manufacturers Boeing and Airbus for a total of 80 short and medium-haul aircraft for its airlines.

The European aviation company said it had signed a deal for 40 Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft with another 60 purchasing options. The company has not yet decided which of its carriers will use these aircraft when they are delivered.

A separate agreement with Airbus sees the purchase of 40 Airbus A220-300s for its new Lufthansa City Airlines subsidiary, with options for a further 20 aircraft. The new aircraft will be deployed on short-haul routes from Frankfurt and Munich.

Lufthansa has also agreed options for 40 jets from Airbus’ A320 family of aircraft as the company seeks to secure “favourable conditions for future orders”.

The 80 new aircraft, which have a total value of $9 billion at list prices, will be delivered between 2026 and 2032.

The group, which also owns Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings, currently has a fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The latest order will provide jets with 30 per cent lower fuel consumption than their predecessor aircraft.

Detlef Kayser, an executive board member responsible for fleet and technology, said: “With today’s aircraft order, we are accelerating the largest fleet modernisation in our company’s history. 

“This increases our order list of around 200 aircraft to 280 – plus an additional 120 purchasing options for further state-of-the-art short and medium-haul aircraft. 

“The order demonstrates our airlines’ future viability and ability to invest, and it shows that we are living up to our responsibility to reduce our carbon emissions.”