AUSTRIAN Introducing Dedicated Narrow Body Business Class Cabin

AUSTRIAN has announced that it has begun work to update and upgrade their current Business Class cabin on their Airbus A319, A320, and A321 aircraft. In all, 29 aircraft will feature the new look.

Over the course of the next 2 years, the Business Class cabins for these aircraft will be upgraded with improved seat cushions as well as increased legroom. Currently, the Business Class cabin seat pitch is 30 inches, just at it is for Economy but this will increase to 32 inches. This marks the first time that a narrow body business class cabin will actually have a different seat pitch than the rest of the aircraft’s seats.

Traditionally, short and medium haul Business Class cabins for Austrian (as well as for the Lufthansa Group & most major European airlines) meant that you had the same type of seat as an economy passenger, but the middle seat would be left open giving passengers a bit more room. A curtain hanging from the luggage bins would act as the divider between Business and Economy class seats. For Austrian, this now goes away and in essence they are creating a dedicated Business Class cabin for their narrow body aircraft. However, the middle seat will continue to be left open.

All this new space was found by decreasing the size of storage and galley areas on the aircraft.

At the same time, Austrian also has announced that it will reduce the seat pitch on their A319 and A320 aircraft from 30 inches to 29 inches. According to OS, this brings them in line with European standards but at the same time will also allow Austrian to install an additional row in Economy Class.

2 Comments

02nz on October 19, 2015 at 3:20 pm

“For Austrian, this now goes away and in essence they are creating a dedicated Business Class cabin for their narrow body aircraft.” I don’t think that’s supported by the facts here, as they are continuing with a 3-3 layout where the middle seat is left open, they’re just giving you a couple of inches of add’l legroom (less than United’s Economy Plus in most cases). I don’t see how that makes this a “dedicated” business class cabin any more than what they had before. In fact I bet they continue to adjust the divider between business and economy based on demand – when they need more economy seats and fewer business, they just move the divider forward and the first few rows of economy get extra legroom (they could even charge for that).

Lufthansa Flyer on October 19, 2015 at 4:30 pm

Yes its dedicated since the seat pitch will be different than Economy and new seat cushion to be installed as well. As I stated, it will continue to block the middle seat. The divider will probably no longer play a role since there will be a technical difference between Biz and Economy seats. Thus, the Business Class will be a dedicated Biz seat and not an Economy seat with a curtain behind it.
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02nz on October 19, 2015 at 3:20 pm

“For Austrian, this now goes away and in essence they are creating a dedicated Business Class cabin for their narrow body aircraft.” I don’t think that’s supported by the facts here, as they are continuing with a 3-3 layout where the middle seat is left open, they’re just giving you a couple of inches of add’l legroom (less than United’s Economy Plus in most cases). I don’t see how that makes this a “dedicated” business class cabin any more than what they had before. In fact I bet they continue to adjust the divider between business and economy based on demand – when they need more economy seats and fewer business, they just move the divider forward and the first few rows of economy get extra legroom (they could even charge for that).
- Lufthansa Flyer on October 19, 2015 at 4:30 pm
  
  Yes its dedicated since the seat pitch will be different than Economy and new seat cushion to be installed as well. As I stated, it will continue to block the middle seat. The divider will probably no longer play a role since there will be a technical difference between Biz and Economy seats. Thus, the Business Class will be a dedicated Biz seat and not an Economy seat with a curtain behind it.