Does anyone know anything about the phasing-in of the new Lufthansa short-haul cabins? Are they only on A321neos? Will other new narrowbodies (A320SL/NEO) be getting them? Will some aircraft be retrofitted?

The first A320N with the new Cabin is afaik in production. All LX A320N will get it, too. I’m uncertain about the 10 used 320s for OS which will join starting next year.

Haven’t heard anything about a possible retrofit program. Don’t think there will be one in the short term.

InnsbruckFlyer wrote:

Does anyone know anything about the phasing-in of the new Lufthansa short-haul cabins? Are they only on A321neos? Will other new narrowbodies (A320SL/NEO) be getting them? Will some aircraft be retrofitted?

Retrofit will commence 2020/2021 according to a LH flight attendant I spoke with.

What’s the new cabin like?

Vasu wrote:

What’s the new cabin like?

Look at that: Lufthansa Group Europe fleet
http://www.airliners.de/lufthansas-standard-kabine-a320-flotte-dienst/50220

The biggest change is, that the seats/cabin will be all the same for all airlines of the Lufthansa Group. Just exchange some parts of the seat with a different colored one, like red and you will have a bird of Austrian Airlines. Another color and you have a Swiss. Also the livery will be changed accordingly, like jet engines and the fuselage will be painted white in the whole Lufthansa Group. Exchange between the different airlines in the LH Group can be easily performed (of parts as also whole birds).. Just exchange some parts of the seats by different colored one, repaint the fin....Air Adria...LH, Austrian Airlines, Swiss e.g.

Vasu wrote:

What’s the new cabin like?

It's a seat by manufacturer Geven, supposed to be better upholstered than the Recaro one, fixed recline in most rows and added in-seat USB power.

Thanks! Doesn’t look too bad - pretty much the standard these days.

Better looking than the current cabin, and the seats look to have more padding too. Seems to be an improvement overall.

What amazes me is how LH always comes up with an idea to standardise a product and to reduce costs and then manages to ‘f’ it up during implementation.

Surely if they would have chosen a standard grey across all airlines and slap a headrest cover with different details/logos on the seats instead of 3 different versions of grey and some other colour elements it would have achieved the actual purpose of standardisation and reduced costs.

trijetsonly wrote:

Vasu wrote:

What’s the new cabin like?

It's a seat by manufacturer Geven, supposed to be better upholstered than the Recaro one, fixed recline in most rows and added in-seat USB power.

Seat pitch is unchanged at 30", though, so while the seat may be more comfortable, the added upholstering may reduce leg room compared to Recaro's (very) slim seats.

Recaro can be unpleasant to sit in if you have a nervous person sit right behind you. This is why they were nicknaed the "massage seats".

DUSZRH wrote:

The first A320N with the new Cabin is afaik in production. All LX A320N will get it, too. I’m uncertain about the 10 used 320s for OS which will join starting next year.

Haven’t heard anything about a possible retrofit program. Don’t think there will be one in the short term.

The first with the new cabin will be D-AINV? Will they return to a normal configuration of the rear galley as they did aboard A321neo?

Will they have a proper business class?

Ziyulu wrote:

Will they have a proper business class?

No

Ziyulu wrote:

Will they have a proper business class?

Dedicated Business class inside Europe is effectively dead. No real point, at the end of the day flights within Europe are 1-3 hours typically and most people even
business travelers are okay with flying economy and are instead a lot more price sensitive and so for these legacies will turn to be more like LCC's so a "proper"
business class will never return to Intra-Europe flying unless a radical change occurs.

Insertnamehere wrote:

Dedicated Business class inside Europe is effectively dead. [...]

As a user of business class intra-Europe I'd like to add that because of how horrible the pitch is I'm avoiding LH and BA. And for that reason I'm also avoiding connecting on long haul on LH and BA.
On both of those airlines there is not enough space to open 15" laptop in front of you. I really don't understand why they can't sacrifice one row for a better pitch in first 8 rows. They sell them for much more money to J passengers, and ones in economy they can also sell for profit as "extra legroom". They are so focused on competing with LCCs they are forgetting about the other end of the spectrum.

gregpodpl wrote:

Insertnamehere wrote:

Dedicated Business class inside Europe is effectively dead. [...]

As a user of business class intra-Europe I'd like to add that because of how horrible the pitch is I'm avoiding LH and BA. And for that reason I'm also avoiding connecting on long haul on LH and BA.
On both of those airlines there is not enough space to open 15" laptop in front of you. I really don't understand why they can't sacrifice one row for a better pitch in first 8 rows. They sell them for much more money to J passengers, and ones in economy they can also sell for profit as "extra legroom". They are so focused on competing with LCCs they are forgetting about the other end of the spectrum.

Can someone clarify? Doesn’t the intro-European airline business class model include lounge access and meal on board?

Do any airlines offer a premium economy offering intra-Europe, i.e., similar to UA’s Economy Plus or DL’s Comfort Plus? I’m sure the European airlines have studied the J offering but it seems to me there would be demand on 1-3 hour flights for a premium economy like product:

- Drop “J”
- Drop lounge access
- Drop meals
- Introduce premium economy
- 3-4 rows
- Visual cabin divider
- 35” seat pitch
- Snack basket
- Comp beverages
- Market the heck out of it like it’s the most exclusive, luxurious way to fly within Europe

Or... did I just describe current J minus seat pitch? lol

questions wrote:

Can someone clarify? Doesn’t the intro-European airline business class model include lounge access and meal on board?

Do any airlines offer a premium economy offering intra-Europe, i.e., similar to UA’s Economy Plus or DL’s Comfort Plus? I’m sure the European airlines have studied the J offering but it seems to me there would be demand on 1-3 hour flights for a premium economy like product:

- Drop “J”
- Drop lounge access
- Drop meals
- Introduce premium economy
- 3-4 rows
- Visual cabin divider
- 35” seat pitch
- Snack basket
- Comp beverages
- Market the heck out of it like it’s the most exclusive, luxurious way to fly within Europe

Or... did I just describe current J minus seat pitch? lol

SAS market their premium cabin for intra-Europe flights Plus (same name for PEY in long haul) instead of Business. They have access to SAS lounge, but not some lounges managed by 3rd parties, not all airports fast track eligible. They do have meal and drinks though.

The main downgrade from other European airlines J product though, is that even the middles seat is not guaranteed to be empty lol. So one might actually have same seats as everyone in Y. (or even worse, full Plus cabin but half full at the back in Y)