Lufthansa to go for Premium Economy…. Is it the right move?

Earlier this week, Lufthansa finally rolled out its long-awaited Premium Economy product.

As we’re all aware, Premium Economy has an important purpose in travel – for those who want a bit more comfort than basic economy class, whilst not wanting to pay (either by their own pockets or corporate departments) for business class

Here’s the sample pictures:

Renderings – Lufthansa Group AG.

For an airline to roll out a Premium Economy product, it is quite a tough call, with three different approaches

• A pure “Extra space” product akin to United Economy Extra or American Airlines Main Cabin Extra
• An Economy Product with bells and whistles (British Airways World Traveller Plus)
• A Business Minus Product that has lots of the frills at a lower price (Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, Qantas Premium Economy)

Lufthansa’s product is 3cm (about and inch and a bit) wider than the normal Economy seat, with wide armrests, and a seat pitch of 38 inches, with an extendible leg rest.  This is combined with a winged headrest, and an inbuilt IFE system in the seat. Power at-seat is a feature too.

Renderings – Lufthansa Group AG.

The first thing that sticks in my mind is “Slimline Seating”. This is a preference of airlines as they can cram more seats in a plane, and they weigh less so they cost less in fuel to fly around. The downside is unless well designed, it can feel like you’re sitting on a park bench to your posterior.

In terms of produce, this is Economy Plus style product – more than economy, but less than business by a long stretch.

Looking at what Lufthansa is offering, it becomes more apparent – with extra upselling built-in:

• Double  baggage allowance:  two bags up to 23kg each.
• Welcome Drink, Water bottle, Amenity kit
• Food delivered with menus and china.
• More storage space for personal belongings
• All seats in Premium Economy Class are not more than one seat away from the aisle
• Access to Lufthansa Business Lounges available (for a fee of EUR 25)

Yes, to further differentiate, they’re going to charge you if you want to use the lounge too (which to be fair, no airlines offer lounge access without a Shiny card in Premium Economy).

Lufthansa plan to have sets of 21 to 52 Premium Economy seats per long haul plane as the fleet needs it, with 3,600 Premium Economy seats on all 106 Lufthansa long haul aircraft. The first fleet to get them will be the Boeing 747-8 fleet, with roll out occurring in Autumn 2014, through to Summer 2015.

Costs have not been finalised, but expect to pay through for this as Lufthansa are predicting fares to be €600 on top of your Economy fare on a return leg.

It’s taken time for Lufthansa to do this as its competition have been long installing these seats. Whilst American carriers have gone down the line of offering extra space, local competitors such as British Airways, KLM and Air France have been plugging their Economy Comfort/Premium Economy seats for some time.  Even Asian competitors (such as Cathay Pacific an ANA) have popped Premium Economy seats in – leaving Lufthansa on its own.

What will make or break this product will be the final cost. When ticketing becomes available, it will need to be enough so it can grab the semi-frequent flyer or the cheap corporate flyer, and reward them as such.

Something – if I’m honest – Lufthansa has a bad habit of not doing.

It’s going to be one to watch… but I still think those seats too awfully thinly padded…