Marisa Garcia Lufthansa has shared the first images of its future 777-9 Business Class, with renderings of its new Recaro CL6710 seating.
The trim and finish of the new seats keep step with the airline’s traditional tones of silver, blue and gold, softened in tone and accompanied by wood finishes.
The airline highlights improved privacy and “the best sleep” supplied by a special “shoulder zone for side sleepers.” Every seat will offer aisle access and larger IFE monitors. The new class will debut in 2020 on the airline’s new Boeing 777-9 aircraft.
The centre of the aircraft features alternating single seats with double-wide productivity areas which might make a good “control room” for any Premium Travellers who plan to get a lot of work down in flight. These captain’s chairs are alternated with couples seating.
Some have questioned whether it’s wise to reveal a new cabin configuration this far in advance of the launch, perhaps giving competitors ideas. But the timeline for production of any new program is years long. It is safe to say that any airline looking to a competitor’s reveal for inspiration will be a distant second to market.
Given the dramatic reveals of new cabin products by competitors in the Americas, with United Polaris and the Delta One Suite; and in the Middle East with the Qatar Airways QSuite and Emirates’ new First Class private cabin, Lufthansa likely wanted to demonstrate to customers that there are good things underway.
While, compared to other recent reveals, this new Lufthansa cabin doesn’t appear to break any ground in terms of design thinking or new passenger experience features, it is attractive and should be very comfortable. Overall, the design is centred around a high-tech productivity flyer. The renderings hint at touch seat controls in a tablet screen which could also mean that Lufthansa plans to introduce other smart seat features which may surprise come 2020.
