by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 7, 2013 | Airlines |
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.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 6, 2013 | Airlines |
Lufthansa today announced a new First Class fare structure designed to make First Class more affordable than ever before. The new fare class dubbed “First Saver Plus” is specifically designed for passengers who originate their travels in Germany and travel to one of Lufthansa’s 30 long-haul destinations. This new program is designed to help the occasional traveler experience Lufthansa’s First Class at far more attractive fares.
Under the new program, “First Saver Plus” Fares will typically be 40% lower than regular First Class fares. For example, a regular First Class ticket from Frankfurt to New York is usually €8500, under the new First Saver Plus fare it would only be €5500. The new fare class comes with only a few minor restrictions including that tickets must be purchased 60 days in advance. There is also a minimum stay requirement: 6 days to Eastern USA and Middle Eastern destinations and 10 days for all other destinations. Additionally these fares are not re-bookable but tickets can be canceled for €400 each.
Otherwise passengers will experience the same First Class hospitality as those paying full fare for First Class travel. These outstanding amenities include earning triple miles for their Frequent Flyer accounts, access to all Lounge Services and amenities (including the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and private car transfers where necessary) and the same baggage allowances as well. In other words, services are not reduced other than the advanced booking and minimum stay requirements. And yes, you are eligible to get you Rubber Duck souvenir as well!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 1, 2013 | Airlines |
Lufthansa’s newest A320 shows off her Sharklets (photo courtesy of Lufthansa)
ATTENTION PLANE-SPOTTERS!
Lufthansa today took delivery of it’s latest Airbus A320. Normally a new A320 joining the fleet does not garner too much fanfare or attention but this A320 is different. For the first time, a “Sharklet” equipped aircraft sports the Lufthansa livery. Sharklets, for you non-Avgeeks, are basically vertical extensions to an aircraft’s wingtips that help the aircraft and airline in a multitude of ways.
The 8 foot tall sharklet mimic the outer tips of a bird’s wings and help the aircraft by reducing drag and and enhancing overall aerodynamic perfomance. These impressive “wingtips” also help the aircraft climb at steeper angles which comes in handy when operating in and out of airports with Noise Abatement Procedures that are common throughout Europe.
I mentioned that this enhancement helps an airline as well. The Sharklets have been engineered in such a manner that they actually improve an aircraft’s fuel consumption by 1-4% and reduce carbon emissions by the same factor. Based on Lufthansa’s own calculations, a A320 operating with Sharlets will save approximately 1000 tons of CO2 emissions per year or the equivalent of the annual total pollution of 200 cars. All this from a pair of 8 foot tall enhancements to an airliner’s wings!
You’ll start to see these new A320 populate the fleet over the coming months and years. By 2015, 22 new Sharklet-equipped A320s will be delivered to Lufthansa and will be used to replace older aircraft. According to Lufthansa, these A320s will be primarily used on their longest intra-European routes. I suspect that means we won’t see it anytime soon on the 20 minute “long-haul” flight between Munich and Nuremberg……but at least you’ll still be served breakfast on that flight!!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 1, 2013 | Airlines |
Without further ado, let me be one of the first to OFFICIALLY welcome you to the wonderful world of FIRST2BOARD.COM.
After weeks and months of planning, my partners Casey and Stacey (of Very Good Points), along with our wonderful new family of fantastic Bloggers are excited to start on our journey together and bring you fantastic insight, advice and opportunities in travel.
Stacey and I were bloggers on Boarding Area where we had a great time and had learned a lot. We owe a lot to Randy Peterson and his team at “BA” for helping us reach this point where we were confident enough to start our own project. Casey is our “Tech Guru” and business manager and makes everything that you see on First2Board.com possible. Combining our strengths, we felt that we can deliver a high quality experience to our readers and fans.
You’ll soon learn that our family of bloggers is a diverse mix of specialities and talents. The vetting process was difficult as we had dozens upon dozens of bloggers reach out to us asking to join our project. We’ll be expanding soon, so we’ll be bringing you even more fantastic “content” for your reading pleasure.
As you may have read in the days leading up to this launch, we were hinting at a fantastic Prize Package to kick off First2Board. We can finally tell you what all the hype has been about and we think you will not be disappointed (Please see below the prize list for the ways to enter):
THE GRAND PRIZE:
Basketball in the Big Easy
- Round-trip airfare for two on airline of sponsor’s choice to New Orleans (from any destination in the United States)
- Two nights accommodation at the W New Orleans
- Tickets to a premier professional basketball game during the weekend of February 16, 2014
- Tickets to special events and a meet and greet with a professional basketball player
- $100 American Express gift card to be used for spending money
THE SECOND PLACE PRIZE:
$250 Snique Away Gift Card
SniqueAway is a private-sale travel site that that offers its members up to 40% off top-rated hotels (all have earned at least a 4-out-of-5 rating on TripAdvisor).
Value expires one year from date of win.
THE THIRD PLACE PRIZE:
$100 Marriott Hotels Gift Card
With 3,800 properties in 74 countries, let your imagination go wild!
No expiration date.
THE FOURTH PLACE PRIZE:
$100 Marriott Hotels Gift Card
With 3,800 properties in 74 countries, let your imagination go wild!
No expiration date.
THE FIFTH PLACE PRIZE:
$100 American Express Gift Card
Shop to your hearts content with a gift card from AMEX.
THE SIXTH PLACE PRIZE:
Lufthansa Airlines Fan Pack
Two lucky winners will each receive one exciting collection of Lufthansa souvenirs, provided by LufthansaFlyer.com
THE SEVENTH PLACE PRIZE:
W Hotels Gift Pack
Two lucky winners will each receive one collection of fantastic Bliss products and W Hotels promotional items from the W New Orleans.
Prize EligibilityOnly persons residing in United States who are at least 18 years of age can enter.Sweepstakes StartsMarch 01, 2013 @ 12:01 am (EST)Sweepstakes EndsMarch 08, 2013 @ 11:59 pm (EST)
There are multiple ways to enter:
You can enter using twitter by following us at @First2board and sending a “Tweet” with the hashtag of #F2BLive
You can enter by visiting this online link: http://apps.facebook.com/sweepstakeshq/contests/316497
You can also enter by visiting each of out participating blogger’s website and clicking on a BLUE PLANE when you see one (though not this one!):
Please note that there are terms and conditions involved with this fantastic contest, so please make sure you review them:
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. Open only to residents of The United States and DC, 18 or older, who have Internet access and a valid email address prior to 3/1/13. Begins at 12:01 a.m. ET on 3/1/13 and ends at 11:59 PM ET on 3/8/13.
To enter:
Follow @First2Board on Twitter and send a “Tweet” using the hashtag #F2BLive
OR
Locate the F2B logo on participating blogs and follow the link to register,
OR
Enter online by visiting:
http://apps.facebook.com/sweepstakeshq/contests/316497 .
Void where prohibited. 7 total prizes to be awarded on or about 3/9/13. Total value of all prizes: $3372.00. Prize restrictions apply. Odds of winning will depend upon the number of eligible entries received. For Official Rules, including prize details, visit http://first2board.com/launch-contest-entry/ Sponsor:
First2Board [Triple 3 Consulting, LLC. 2487 South Gilbert Road, Suite 106-452, Gilbert, Arizona 85295]
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 26, 2013 | Airlines |
In the March issue of ATW (Air Transport World), the industry magazine announced the recipients of their 39th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards. In total, the magazine recognized excellence in 7 categories. One of these awards is the Joseph S. Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award, named after the founder of the Magazine. For 2013, the magazine bestowed the honor upon Lufthansa’s Chairman Of The Supervisory Board, Herr Jürgen Weber.
Herr Weber was recognized for his outstanding career and invaluable vision and contributions that helped rescue Lufthansa from the the depths of a government-run bureaucracy and turn it into one of the world’s largest and most respected airlines. With a career that has spanned nearly 46 years, there is little about Lufthansa that has not been influenced by Herr Weber.
When asked by ATW about his strategy that helped turn Lufthansa around, he referred to 3 key pillars:
“1. Accept the sea-change of airline liberalization and economic globalization without any ifs and buts and restructure the airline accordingly.”
“2. Initiate a mindset-change process with our staff that would turn an organization of career-oriented government officials into a team of customer-drive people fully devoted to give excellent service. This may have been the most difficult, most time consuming, but the most import of the tasks.”
AND
“3. Turn around our fate as a loss-making outfit and make it an effectively structured aviation group and a soundly funded private enterprise.”
As far as the impact that Herr Weber has had on Lufthansa that we see day to day as passengers and fans of the airline, he was responsible for the breaking up of Lufthansa into the various companies we see today: Cargo, Passenger Airline, Systems, Technik, Catering, etc. Each of these companies is given the flexibility to run their business the way they see fit, but are accountable to the overall company known as The Lufthansa Group. The idea behind this was to allow each company to stand on it’s own merits and make it’s own decisions based on the line of business that they are in.
Another absolutely obvious impact that we see every day thanks to Herr Weber is the Star Alliance. It was his vision in the early 1990’s that suggested airlines leverage each other’s strengths which among other things includes routes and timetables. His theory at the time suggested that the airlines would be stronger if they cooperated with each other versus competing against one another. This foresight led to the creation of the Star Alliance in 1997 when Lufthansa, United, Thai, Air Canada and SAS penned an agreement to cooperate with each other. Today the alliance membership is 27-strong and is the largest airline alliance in the world, setting the standard by which others are measured.
As I read through the interview which went into great detail on Herr Weber, it would seem unlikely that there is another candidate in the airline industry that is more deserving of this award than Herr Weber. With nearly half of a century of service to Lufthansa and being credited with saving the airline from mediocrity, finding someone to compare him to could be nearly impossible.
