According to the weekly magazine, the particular airplane chosen bears the identifier D-AIGZ in the German aviation registry. Aviation fleet tracker Airfleets says the airplane was built in 2000 and bears the name of Villingen-Schwenningen, a picturesque town in Germany’s Black Forest region.
Der Spiegel did not specify whether Lufthansa will receive payment from the German government or any other government for the use of the plane, nor whether it will be compensated for the loss of revenue while the jet is unable to fly passengers. Requests to the airline for clarification on payment, and whether the plane would go back into commercial service at some point, had not been answered at the time of publication.