by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 6, 2017 | 777x, Austrian, Brussels, Business Class, Featured, Lufthansa, Swiss |
As we get closer to the introduction of the 777X to the Lufthansa fleet, rumors are starting to fly around regarding what the cabin might look like, especially Business Class.
Buzz has been building, and it looks as though a familiar name will be behind the new Lufthansa seat.
Germany’s Recaro, which has been used by Lufthansa on a regular basis, appears to be the manufacturer of the new seat. Specifically, it looks as though Recaro’s CL6710 model will be adapted to fit Lufthansa’s needs. This new seat will debut in 2018, and could likely be what is installed on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, and Brussels aircraft. Lufthansa Group made the announcement a while back that identical next generation Business Class seats will be installed on long-haul aircraft group wide.
Recaro advertises the seat as the next generation in Business Class comfort, providing passengers increased comfort and amenities as compared to current iterations of Business Class seats. One major feature will be the ability for a passenger to use their smart phone to control all aspects of the seat. Hopefully, an electronics ban at that point won’t include even the modest cell phone!
Here are a few images as provided by Recaro showing off the new seat. The seat will actually debut with TAP at some point next year.
I’m excited about the prospect that the 777x might be a 1 – 2 – 1 layout in Business Class (at least based on this seat design), which would be fantastic!
H/T: FrankfurtFlyer.de
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 12, 2017 | 777x, Austrian, Brussels, Business Class, Featured, Lufthansa |
In what was not exactly a surprise, Lufthansa took the opportunity at last week’s ITB travel show in Berlin to confirm that a new long haul Business Class product is coming for 2020. Why 2020? It’s because 2020 is when LH plans to introduce Boeing’s new 777X to their fleet.
What makes this announcement different from past Lufthansa cabin announcements is that the new Business Class seat will be ‘standardized’ across Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian. In other words, each of these carriers will share the same exact seat in their respective Business Cabin. At this point, no decision has been made on Brussels, but in my opinion since Brussels is being melded into Eurowings, it may not enjoy the same cabin as the other carriers within LH Group.
The reason for the standardized Business Class is simple. It is much easier to develop one seating system, and more cost effective to install and maintain that one system.
No specific details of the seat have been revealed other than it will be a very ‘digitized seat’ in that passengers will have complete control of their seat through their ‘smart’ device. This control will extend to the control of seat position, lighting, and of course the IFE system.
The one concern that I have with the announcement has to do with verbiage from Lufthansa. It is suggested that the seat HAS been developed instead of WILL BE developed. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that the seat will already be obsolete by the time it is introduced. This has happened in the past, so hopefully lessons have been learned.
Also, in my opinion, based on what I have heard from Lufthansa and others in the know while I was in Munich a few weeks ago, it appears that this Business Class cabin upgrade may also go a long way in reducing, if not eliminating the First Class cabin from Lufthansa’s DNA. With no plans for a First Class cabin for the 777X, and the new A350s also being without a First Class cabin, the writing is clearly on the wall.
