On my way back and forth from FTU Amsterdam (which if you missed, was a great event. Very little credit card selling going on…) I had the… pleasure (is that the right word? It’s a word. Close enough in this discussion) of flying Lufthansa and its NEK – (Neue Europa Kabine).
NEK seats to the rest of the world are slimline seats
So, how is it?
The seat is the same no matter what class you’re in (Business and Economy). The only real difference between the two is that in Business class, the middle seat is free. Otherwise, legroom and the seat is the same throughout.
NEK Seating aboard a Lufthansa A320
NEK seating aboard a Lufthansa Airbus A319
NEK Business Class seats
The free-space seat.
Speaking of leg room, I will give Lufthansa this much: there is plenty of it.
NEK seating – Front row of a plane.
NEK seating – anywhere else on a plane.
However, the seat itself? For a short-haul trip, it’s passable. For Mid-haul trips (which some of these seats have flights to), I’d be looking to fly another way. Simply put, its a bench… or if I want to give Lufthansa more compliments – it’s a Leather Covered Bench at best.
There’s not that much padding on the seat cushion, and you can feel the base of the seat on a bad day.. The net result is you can feel the bumps on the tarmac with these slimline seats.
Whilst I say find another way, there is a nasty fact emerging, with lots of carriers installing these seats kind of seats.
Why?
They weigh a lot of less than the legacy seats they have, allow more seats to be crammed in a plane, thus reducing costs.
I’ll run a full trip report (as there were some interesting events on this trip… namely, a lot of running, a missed flight, even more running… and a couple of presentations) next week.
Those of you who were at FTU Amsterdam will recognise the stories… it would be rude of me NOT to share 😉
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