The German airline will first introduce its new business travel class in 2023 in Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. Lufthansa is now also commenting on retrofitting older jets.
Lufthansa had long planned to introduce its new business class with the Boeing 777X. But then it became clear that the new long-haul aircraft would come too late and the German airline would first install the new business travel class in Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. The group announced this only for the year 2022 an, then for 2023.
Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr confirmed at the annual press conference on March 3rd: The first jets with the new business class “come in 2023, in fact Boeing 787 and Airbus A350”. The 777X, which is scheduled for first delivery in late 2023, is to follow.
Boeing 747-8 and A350 are being retrofitted
When exactly this will happen in 2023 is still unclear. Spohr referred to production problems at Boeing and seat manufacturers and said: “It shifts almost weekly.” To the Lufthansa announced the product for the first time in 2017.
For the first time, the CEO also commented specifically on retrofitting the existing fleet. The new business class will “definitely be the Boeing 747-8,” said Spohr. “We’ve already decided that.” After that, Airbus A350s would follow, which still have the old product. “For other aircraft, we look at the remaining time in the fleet to decide whether the conversion is still worthwhile,” said Spohr.
Four A350 and five Boeing 787 with special features
However, all of this does not mean that all Lufthansa passengers in Business Class 2022 will have to make do with the old product. Because for one thing the airline leases four A350s, which retain the cabin of ex-operator Philippine Airlines. “The business class is great”, said Spohr last fall. “It’s not as good as our own, which is coming in 2023, but better than our current one.” There is direct aisle access from every seat.
On the other hand, the first five Boeing 787s that Lufthansa intends to fleet from the second quarter of 2022 will receive a kind of transitional product. Because these jets are so-called whitetails, i.e. ready-made aircraft for which the manufacturer has lost the original customers. Spohr now said that these 787s do not yet have the new Business Class, but a product that “is still an improvement”.
Business Class might shrink
Lufthansa is considering making the new business class smaller. CFO Remco Steenbergen said in March 2021: “The number of business class seats in an Airbus A350, for example, can be reduced from 48 to 36.” In return, there would be more seats in Premium Economy or Economy Class. However, that is only one option.
Is the plan still there? “No decision has been made in this regard,” a spokesman told aeroTELEGRAPH on Friday (March 4). On the other hand, it is clear that subsidiary Swiss will not take such a step.