Plans are being drawn up to replace as many as 40 Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on Airbus A380 aircraft around the world, according to Australian airline Qantas. The superjumbos have come under the spotlight in recent weeks following an engine failure on Qantas Flight QF32 which forced the aircraft into an emergency landing in Singapore.

In a widely expected move Lufthansa has appointed deputy chairman Christoph Franz as its new chief executive office. Mr Franz, who has served as vice chairman for over a year, will replace Wolfgang Mayrhuber from January 2011.

Lufthansa has launched Airbus A380 flights between Frankfurt and Beijing.

According to the latest reports, a Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 freighter crashed yesterday morning at 11.38 a.m. (local time) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The aircraft, coded Flight LH 8460, was on a flight to Riyadh from Frankfurt, Germany. The plane was piloted by a two-man crew, according to initial reports. Both pilots are being treated in hospital.

Lufthansa has reached agreement with pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit in a long running dispute over job security at the airline. In exchange for a pay freeze until March 2011, the German flag-carrier has stated it will not arbitrarily migrate positions to cheaper European subsidiaries.

From approximately 12.30 p.m. today onwards, the first in a series of images of A380’s visit to Vienna prepared by a press photographer will be available to download free of charge. We will be updating and expanding the picture gallery on a number of occasions throughout the afternoon.