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LUFTHANSA’s New Premium Economy Seats: Features & Benefits Explained

by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 5, 2014 | Featured | 18 comments

At the ITB show being held in Berlin this week, Lufthansa has unveiled its long awaited Premium Economy seat that will be installed throughout their long haul fleet. With the new seat, Lufthansa is hoping to accomplish 2 things: One, give those who typically travel an economy an option to have a better seat for considerably less money than a Business Class seat. Second, provide a good option to someone traveling for business whose company travel policy does not allow travel in Business Class. Now Businesses and their employees have a reasonable option that strikes a balance between cost and comfort.

The New Premium Economy Cabin – photo courtesy of Lufthansa

As far as roll-out, expect to see the first seats serving Frankfurt in the 747-8i aircraft beginning in December. The A340 will bring Premium Economy seats to Munich in early 2015. Previously LH suggested that the A380 would debut the new seat but apparently plans have changed.

Booking the seats will be possible beginning in mid-May and fare classes E, G, N will reflect Premium Economy fares. Additionally, advanced seat assignments will be possible for no additional fee.

As the rollout takes shape, if there is ever a situation where you book a Premium Economy seat, but for some reason the aircraft that you are flying that day does not have a Premium Economy section, Lufthansa will first look to upgrade passengers to Business Class. If the upgrade to Business Class is not possible and a passenger is forced to sit in regular Economy Class, appropriate compensation will be paid to the passenger.

Plans call for the Premium Economy seats to be installed across the long haul fleet by Summer 2015. It is a simple cabin retrofit and each aircraft will take 2-3 days to complete the installation.

According to Lufthansa, the cost of a round-trip ticket for a transatlantic flight in Premium Economy will be approximately $800 more than a typical Economy Class seat.

Important things to know about the new seat……

The Hardware:

Seat pitch increases 50% compared to the normal economy seat.

Each seat is 10cm (4 inches) wider than a typical economy seat. Seating area is approximately 3cm wider.

Each seat has 2 dedicated armrests — no more sharing!

The seat reclines 10cm (4 inches) more than a traditional Economy Class seat.

The leg rest in the first row (Bulkhead) folds out from beneath the seat due to lack of a Premium Economy seat in front of it. Premium Economy seats in other rows will have a fold down leg rest that is installed to the seat in front of them.

IFE Screen is much larger (11-12 inch) than Economy, with both touch and wired remote control.

A dedicated power and USB outlet is built into each seat.

Depending on the aircraft, between 21 and 52 Premium Economy seats will be available.

Onboard in Premium Economy:

Welcome drink.

Premium Economy amenity kit.

Bottle of water waiting at seat.

Dedicated Premium Economy menu (menu upgrade over standard economy offerings).

Glassware and Porcelain plates used for meal service.

Additional Benefits:

Premium Economy passengers will be allowed to check a second bag at no charge.

Premium Economy passengers can access Lufthansa’s Business Class and Welcome Lounges (A €25 fee will apply).

Miles & More members will earn 100% or 150% of miles flown (depending on which Premium Economic fare class is booked).

Additional Images (Courtesy of Lufthansa):

The Premium Economy Amenity Kit

Feel free to ask any questions or join the conversation at FlyerTalk.com.

LUFTHANSA Confirms Premium Economy Seat Will Debut On A380 Fleet In 2014

by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 26, 2013 | Airlines | 0 comments

Lufthansa has made it official that it will debut it’s new Premium Economy cabin beginning next year on it’s A380 fleet. Currently LH operates 10 of the ‘double deckers’ and has 5 more on order.

The confirmation comes from Jens Bischof, who is a member of Lufthansa’s Supervisory Board and is responsible for Sales for the airline. According to the Bloomberg article, Lufthansa plans to convert 10% of it’s long haul economy capacity into the new Premium Economy product.

The German firm ZIM Flugsitz GmbH has been awarded the contract to provide 3,000 new Premium Economy seats which will be officially unveiled next year at Berlin’s ITB Show that will be held between March 5 and 9, 2014.

ZIM’s website shows the following product that is widely thought to be the basic model (subject to custom colors and features) of the Premium Economy seat (However it has not been confirmed by LH):

H/T to Oliver2002 on FlyerTalk’s Lufthansa / Miles & More Forum

Lufthansa Updates Premium Economy Strategy & Regional Aircraft Plans

by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 7, 2013 | Airlines | 2 comments

A big thanks to FlyerTalk’s Oliver2002 for pointing out a recent Airliners.de article that provided a deeper look into the upcoming Premium Economy seat that will be introduced into Lufthansa’s fleet beginning next year.

The original article is written in German but I’ve taken the liberty to provide a loose (and hopefully accurate) translation covering the highlights of the article (thanks Rosetta Stone!).

At the ITB Berlin Travel Trade Show taking place this week , Lufthansa took the opportunity to provide an update on their progress with developing a Premium Economy Seat aboard all of her long-haul aircraft (A330, A340, A380, B744 & B747-8i). In an interview with Airliners.de , Jens Bischof, Lufthansa’s VP of Sales and Revenue Management shared the airline’s vision for the new seat.

According to Herr Bischoff, the seat will be a unique design and WILL NOT simply be the same economy seat that is in place now but simply with more leg room. In fact it will be a completely new “product”. The seat is currently under development and is expected to be introduced at the 2014 ITB Berlin Travel Show and installation will begin later in 2014. The long haul cabins will be refitted to make room for the new Premium Economy seat, and appears that it will come at the expense of a few Business Class seats being removed from each aircraft to make room for the new product. The new seat will increase seating capacity by over 10% on each aircraft that Premium Economy is installed on.

In the mean time, Lufthansa is also working on developing the “soft product” around the new seating class. This can potentially include different menus and additional services on the ground. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is curious to see what Lufthansa comes up with.

If you recall, Lufthansa used the ITB Berlin show last year when it officially introduced it’s new Business Class Seat that is starting to be installed across the long-haul fleet.

AND

In an additional Interview with ATW during ITB Berlin, Herr Bischoff suggested that Lufthansa is currently re-evaluating its strategy of using 70 seat aircraft in it’s regional fleets. This evaluation may lead to the removal of the ATR-72 from the Air Dolomiti fleet and the CRJ700 from it’s CityLine fleet. He suggested that replacing these aircraft with larger aircraft will bring a better cost and operating structure to the airline. A final decision on this is expected later this year.