LUFTHANSA’s A350 Debuts A New Economy Class Cabin
During my trip to Munich for the A350 Roll In Event I had a chance to tour the aircraft’s interior and got my first close up of Lufthansa’s new Economy cabin that will be featured on the A350.
The changes are not subtle when compared to the most recent iterations of the typical Lufthansa Economy cabin. The biggest difference that will strike passengers immediately when they board will be the color scheme. Lufthansa has gone to great lengths to improve the ambiance of this 224 seat Economy cabin, featuring new color schemes and lighting technology. Not to mention, the new IFE system provides passengers with fantastic on-board entertainment.
First, let me show you the new interior. As I mentioned above, the color scheme is what draws the most initial attention. You’ll see that Lufthansa intentionally shaded the seats from darker seats along the windows to lighter colored seats in the center of the cabin. This was done to create an optical effect to help the cabin appear larger than it is. You’ll notice that in these shots:
You’ll notice the change of tint from the darker seat along the window, to the very light colored seat in center of the middle section. This was designed intentionally to give the cabin a sense of width and roominess.
The darker outer seats……
Perhaps the biggest improvement that comes with the A350 is the IFE system that the Economy class cabin will enjoy. Based on the Panasonic EX3 system, passengers will now be treated to the largest display ever to be installed on a Lufthansa Economy class seat. With this new system, passengers will be able to access upwards of 100 Movies, 200 TV shows and hundreds of Music and other entertainment options (games, reference, etc).
As I wrote in this post, this new IFE system will also allow passengers to pre-plan their viewing menu by using an App on their smart device. The ‘Lufthansa Companion App’ allows you to see your flight’s IFE menu up to 6 weeks ahead of your flight and you’ll be able to build your favorites list via the app. Then once on board, you’ll sync your device to your seat-back display and watch the things you wanted to see. With the new IFE system, you’ll also be able to stream the content directly to your smart device as well. Another first for Lufthansa.
Bigger, Better, Faster…..Lufthansa’s new IFE system aboard the A350.
One final special feature found aboard the A350 that will apply all 3 seating options (Economy, Premium Economy, Business) will be the use of special ambient cabin lighting. With this, cabin crew will be able to adjust cabin lighting from a menu of 24 different options. Each geared towards a specific on-board event or time of day.
For example, a ‘Boarding mode’ will feature natural tones of lights along with blue and yellow hints to suggest Lufthansa’s corporate colors. For takeoff, the mode would be set to reduce the brightness of the lights and create a neutral lighting environment. Another example would be the ‘Dining’ mode where passengers would be reminded of what lighting would be like in a restaurant. Sleeping mode would off course darken the cabin, but leave accent lighting on. Wake mode would have a gradual increase in cabin lighting, simulating a gentle sunrise so that passengers can awake naturally instead of being startled by a sharp change in cabin lighting.
From my time aboard the A350, I came away impressed with the strides that Lufthansa has made in making Economy class better. In my opinion, the new IFE system is what makes this Economy cabin so much better than other LH versions. Having a large screen with a retina quality display will help the hours fly by during a flight. We all know that a long haul flight in Economy can bring with it a certain level of stress. However, with the new features that LH has introduced to help passengers, it should make even the longest flights enjoyable.
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