Lufthansa supervisory board approves order for 15 airbus A380-800

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said its supervisory board has approved the management board's proposal to order 15 Airbus A380-800 superjumbos.

No financial details were disclosed. It said delivery is scheduled from the third quarter of 2007.

It said a decision on the engines for the A380 will be taken later.

Lufthansa CEO Juergen Weber said the size of this new aircraft generation will "substantially impact profitability in flight operations".

"The A380 allows per-seat costs to be reduced by between 15 and 20%," Weber said.

The company said "long co-operation between Lufthansa and Airbus Industrie" made it possible for the airline to make its purchase decision now despite the difficult economic situation.