Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines improve short and medium-haul travel experience

Lufthansa has received its first A321neo in Frankfurt, giving passengers of the Group a new flight experience on short- and medium-haul routes. New services on board include a new and improved seat for a more comfortable travel experience, which is jointly introduced by three of the networks airlines, including Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines.

Seats (pictured) are supplied by Italian manufacturer Geven, who has introduced new full-structure upholstery and added a backrest to ensure a noticeably different sitting experience thanks to ergonomic pressure distribution. The backrest was slimmed down providing guests with even more personal space enhanced by the newly developed horizontal arrangement of the literature bag now placed above the table. These improvements ensure that travelling is not only more comfortable during the flight, but also during taxiing, take-off and landing with a 20 degree inclination of the backrest; business class guests can adjust the backrest to 26 degrees during the cruise. Each row of seats has its own USB port in the current and future standard, which for the first time in the Lufthansa Group will also be available on short-haul flights. Following this announcement, a distinct column will be inserted into the table to facilitate the tablet holder, allowing passengers to set up their own tablets more conveniently.

“Many customer feedbacks have been incorporated into the design of the seat. We received a lot of positive feedback on the new features. We are therefore convinced that the new seat and the modern ambience of the cabin will further improve the travel comfort of our guests,” said Paul Estoppey, head of Product Management Cabin Lufthansa Group Hub Airlines.

In addition to the new features, the first A321neo now flies for the first time with a uniformed cabin design for all three Network Airlines focusing on the large cost-intensive components such as the cabin design and the galleys. Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian remain clearly recognisable thanks to individual design elements and the standardisation applies to all aircrafts in the A320 family. The Airbus A321neo is now configured and unified in such a way that the aircraft can be adapted more efficiently when transferred between Lufthansa Group airlines. This enables the Lufthansa Group to react faster, with more flexibly and move aircraft and capacities easily to another airline or hub.