by Lufthansa Flyer | Aug 2, 2014 | Business Class, Featured, First Class, Lufthansa, Swiss |
The 2014 World Travel Awards For Europe are taking place this weekend in Athens, Greece and Lufthansa and SWISS have been honored with a handful of awards!
First, Lufthansa took home the trophy for ‘Europe’s Leading Airline’ for the 4th consecutive year. Additionally, Lufthansa also took home the prize for ‘Europe’s Leading Airline Lounges’ for the First Class Lounges in Frankfurt Airport.
SWISS takes home the award for ‘Europe’s Leading Business Class’ for the 4th year in a row. It seems like SWISS’ formula is working wonderfully!
The World Travel Awards host a series of these Award Ceremonies around the World and break down their events on a regional basis. This year, these ‘Regional Qualifying Events’ will take place for the following areas: The Middle East, Africa & the Indian Ocean, South & Central America, North America & the Caribbean, Asia & Australasia, and Europe.
Winners from each of these ‘Qualifiers’ will move on to compete at a year-end event in Morocco that will eventually crown a ‘World Champion’ in a variety of travel related categories. Voting is reserved for professionals in the travel industry and typically attracts upwards of 500,000 ballots each year.
Looks like LH and LX have advanced to the ‘Knock-Out’ Round! 😉
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 31, 2014 | Business Class, Featured, Lufthansa |
Earlier today, Lufthansa provided an update concerning the retrofit and roll out of the new Business Class cabins on their long haul aircraft.
To date, 44 out of 100 aircraft now feature the new Business Class interior. Out of the 44, 19 were delivered with the new cabin while 25 have thus far been retrofitted by Lufthansa Technik.
Following is a breakdown by each aircraft type and tail number:
A330:
Delivered with new cabin: D-AIKP, D-AIKQ, D-AIKR, D-AIKS
Retrofit of existing aircraft: D-AIKD, D-AIKE, D-AIKG, D-AIKH, D-AIKI, D-AIKM, D-AIKN.
A340-300:
Retrofit of existing aircraft: D-AIFC, D-AIFE, D-AIGL, D-AIGM, D-AIGN, D-AIGO, D-AIGS, D-AIGT, D-AIGV, D-AIGX, D-AIGZ.
A340-600:
Retrofit of existing aircraft: D-AIHE, D-AIHN, D-AIHQ, D-AIHR, D-AIHS.
A380:
Delivered with new cabin: D-AIMK, D-AIML.
Retrofit of existing aircraft: D-AIMB, D-AIME.
Boeing 747-400:
The first 747-400 is currently undergoing a retrofit to a 2 class configuration that will feature the new Business Class and standard economy class.
Boeing 747-8i:
All aircraft are furnished with the new Business Class cabin.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 28, 2014 | Business Class, Featured, Lufthansa |
Throughout the month of July, LUFTHANSA selected several long haul flights to trial a new concept that they are considering for roll out that will be known as Business Class Signature service. The concept is focused solely on their Business Class product and is designed to bring a new level of personal attention and detail to the Business Class passenger.
In the title I referred to it as a ‘Soft Product’. In airline-speak, ‘Soft Product’ is often referred to as any part of the onboard experience that is not related to the actual seat or aircraft (normally referred to as ‘Hard Product’). Soft Product typically includes catering and flight crew; things that can be unique from one flight to another.
As far as these test flights were concerned, the biggest focus was on flight attendant interaction and responsibility toward passengers. During these flights, Flight Attendants (FA) were assigned a specific group of passengers for whom they would be responsible for during most of the flight. For most flights, this resulted in an FA having 8-12 passengers to look after to ensure a passenger’s onboard experience.
The logic behind this concept suggests that if an FA can focus his or her efforts on a small group of passengers, it will allow for far more interaction between crew and passenger as well as delivery of a far more personalized experience for the traveller. As it stands now in Business Class, FAs are left to deal with the entire cabin of passengers and basically see themselves as simply delivering beverage and meal service, but never personalizing the passenger’s experience since there is little time to get to know upwards of 50 or more passengers! With Business Class Signature, FAs will be able to focus on a small group of passengers, get to know them and based on this increased ‘touch’ be able to deliver a very personalized experience.
Based on feedback from both crew and passengers, this pilot program was extremely effective and successful. Further ‘tests’ are planned and more enhancements will be introduced over the coming months. If all goes to plan, expect to see an official fleet wide launch in Summer 2015.
If any of you were aboard one of these flights and experienced Business Class Signature, please share your thoughts about it!
