Photos: Lufthansa's new Boeing 777X business class seats revealed
By David Flynn, November 24 2017
Here are the first photos of Lufthansa's all-new business class seats for its Boeing 777X (777-9) jets, which will begin flying from 2020.
As previously and exclusively revealed by Australian Business Traveller, the next-gen design finally provides direct aisle access for every passenger: no more awkwardly stepping over your sleeping seatmate – or having them clamber across you, if you're next to the aisle.
Lufthansa has also opted for an alternating 1-2-1 and 1-1-1 layout, as shown below.
The former sees two passengers seated side by side, although both seats are angled away from one another. A privacy screen between the seats which can be lowered for some travelling tête-à-tête, although you'll still need to swivel towards your companion.
Meanwhile, the 1-1-1 rows provide a centre 'throne' seat which is likely to be highly sought-after, not only for the additional privacy it offers but the added personal space on either side of the passenger.
The computer renderings indicate Lufthansa has gone for a subdued colour palette of charcoal, cream and dusky blue with elements of chocolate brown.
The seats will convert into fully-flat beds "up to" 2.2 metres (87 inches) long, Lufthansa says. A bedding service will cover the lie-flat seat with a "thick overlay", while the seatback "makes it possible for the shoulder to sink in when you are lying on your side" to keep your spine straight. The armrests can also be lowered for more sleeping space.
About that "up to" reference above – not all seats in the business class cabin will let you stretch out a full 2.2 metres from head to heel. It seems the 'throne' seats will be a more modest 2 metres.
"Depending on their personal needs, passengers can choose between a number of spatial configurations," is how Lufthansa sells this arrangement. "For instance, they can choose to have an extended-length bed or a seat with twice as much desk space."
Staggered layout
There's also a new staggered layout: in common with many other 1-2-1 business class layouts, the window seats alternate between being located at the aisle, with a bench between the passenger and the window; and having passengers directly next to the window, with a bench between their seat and the aisle. You can see both treatments in the mockup below.
What's not immediately clear from this image is that the window-adjacent seats are angled towards the window so you can enjoy the view while enjoying more privacy; the aisle-adjacent seats are a little bit more more open, and face into the cabin.
The console next to each seat will include an inbuilt Qi-standard wireless charging pad which will work with the latest smartphones from Apple, Samsung and co. Fancy ye olde fashioned cable? It's believed the seat will sprout several USB ports, most likely including the conventional USB-A socket plus the newest USB-C jack.
Each passenger should see at least 10% more space than in Lufthansa's current business class seat, along with "significantly more storage compartments and shelves".
A removable tablet docked into the wall of each seat will provide control over everything from the inflight entertainment and seating position to lighting and ventilation.
Lufthansa began work on its next-generation seat some three years ago, shortly after the current business class seat debuted, and entertained concepts "such as a variant in which the seats were slightly offset on top of each other and the guests either had to climb down or up."
A very long list was whittled down to a shortlist of five candidates which went through the gamut of everything from 3D visualisations to wooden mockups before Lufthansa settled on the new design.
Invitation-only workshops made of Lufthansa's Miles & More frequent flyer members "that reflected the full spectrum of passengers in terms of weight, physique and demand" tested the seat at a nondescript warehouse near Frankfurt Airport, while airline CEO Carsten Spohr has also bunked down in the business class bed for several nights.
This seat won't be limited to Lufthansa's Boeing 777-9 jets – it will also take pride of place in the premium cabins of sister airlines Swiss and Austrian, although slightly customised to suit each airline's unique branding.
However, it's believed that the new business class seats won't be installed across Lufthansa's existing jets – they could be exclusive to the Boeing 777X family.
The fate of first class in the Boeing 777-9 fleet remains undecided, or at least undeclared.
While Lufthansa executive Harry Hohmeister has previously told Australian Business Traveller that "maybe we will have a better idea than just having first class," he has also spoken of a "more flexible" approach to what is defined as the primo cabin, due to "new business class concepts which are nearly as good as first class."
One of these could see first class replaced by a Business Plus cabin, according to an internal video presentation by Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr.
This could be introduced on some Boeing 777-9 jets flying routes with insufficient demand for a full first class cabin.
PREVIOUS [EXCLUSIVE] | Lufthansa's next generation of business class seats will adopt a new design which offers direct aisle access to every passenger, in what the Star Alliance member says will be an "all-new concept" for its forthcoming Boeing 777-9 jets due to take wing from 2020.
The move will see Lufthansa abandon its current business class layout (below), in which window passengers need to do a stretching step over their seatmate to reach the aisle, and adopt a configuration that's become the norm among the world's best business class cabins.
"It will be a single seat approach so that every seat has a direct approach to the aisle," Lufthansa executive Harry Hohmeister confirmed to Australian Business Traveller on the sidelines of a Star Alliance media briefing in Frankfurt.
"This single seat configuration is more or less a must for the next decade."
Hohmeister added that Lufthansa is working on this all-new "business class concept with a major seat manufacturer", with the final design to be locked down by the end of 2018.
Lufthansa wouldn't need to move to a conventional 1-2-1 seating layout, however: several airlines and seat manufacturers are now working on business class cabin designs which pack more passengers into the same floor space while still putting the aisle just one step away.
This includes United Airlines' Polaris business class; the airline-agnostic Zodiac Optima version of the same design (seen above and below); and British Airways' new Airbus A350 Club World seat due in 2019.
As first reported by Australian Business Traveller, Lufthansa's new business class seat will be shared across the fleets of LH-owned Swiss and Austrian Airlines.
Business class goes bespoke
"It's a fantastic project, it's about innovation in not just the seat but everything around it," Hohmeister enthuses.
"It's having more individual possibilities than just having a window or aisle seat. It also has to be around the inflight service, the preflight and after-flight service and all of that, to combine the human touch with the digital touch."
Lufthansa has already shared a mock-up of how a new app will let passengers use their smartphone or tablet to control the seat.
"This seat will be more than 'just' a seat. It will meet the specific needs of customers... whether they prefer to work or sleep, or whether they are traveling with their families or on their own for business."
The fate of first class
Lufthansa is less certain on the role of first class in its Boeing 777-9s, and Hohmeister admits that the need for a first class cabin could be eliminated by a vastly improved business class.
"I think we will get close to that, and this is why we have to review what we do with first class, it's being investigated," he said.
"There are good opportunities with new business class concepts which are nearly as good as first class but more flexible in terms of cabin design (and) when you have a business class that is so close to first class that the differentiation for the customer will not be relevant any more."
"But maybe we will have a better idea than just having first class, we are working on that now," Hohmeister teased.
Hohmeister also added that the Boeing 777-9's premium economy seat would also be an "evolution" of the current design.
David Flynn travelled to Frankfurt as a guest of Star Alliance.
PREVIOUS | Lufthansa will introduce an all-new business class seat with the launch of its Boeing 777-9 in 2020, with the same seat also being rolled out on the Swiss and Austrian Airlines fleets.
The move towards a unified business class design across all three sibling airlines is intended to both lower costs and provide a more consistent passenger experience, especially on codeshare flights.
"We’re starting to design it now" Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr (below) told Australian Business Traveller at this week's meeting of Star Alliance airlines in Chicago.
"Technically it will be the same seat – but when it comes to seat covers and the design of the cabin, I see an upside in being different and maintaining diversity on our aircraft, because we are not one brand."
Lufthansa has upgraded its fleet to the airline's latest business class...
... while Swiss has launched its next-generation business class on the airline's Boeing 777-300ER and will also roll it out to its older Airbus A340s.
Austrian Airlines already uses the same basic seat as the current Swiss design, with fully flat beds in a staggered configuration featuring the same popular 'throne' seat.
Lufthansa's next-gen business class will take wing in 2020 on the first of the German flag-carrier's 34 Boeing 777-9 jets, although Spohr said it had not yet been determined if the jet would also feature first class.
David Flynn travelled to Chicago as a guest of Star Alliance
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Lufthansa - Miles & More
29 Jul 2014
Total posts 181
I do think LH might drop the throne seat for and all 1-2-1 layout to make it seem like the best of the group.
10 Dec 2015
Total posts 177
By 2020, I predict many longhaul carriers, possibly including LH Group, will go to 2-3-2 layout for business class on the 779(2-2-2 for 350/787) but still retaining direct aisle-access for every seat(Obviously flat bed) in a semi-suite set up.....the trick is to do 2-3-2 in a staggered layout. JL and KE have already launched this type(Branded as SkySuite and Prestige Suite respectively) about a year ago and reported right here on www.executivetraveller.com
Lufthansa - Miles & More
29 Jul 2014
Total posts 181
No I beg to differ as thoose seats can be quite claustraphobic why do you think BA's 2018 re design is going 4 abrest
10 Dec 2015
Total posts 177
Claustraphobic for some can be an improvement in privacy for others. Anyway, it's just my personal opinion based on:
1. For decades, the main theme for all improvements in intercon biz class seat(I treat AVOD IFE as a separate development) has been focused on becoming more like F class std(Also evolving but @ a much slower pace in general...except perhaps the shower in F @ EK and F Residence @ EY) in pretty much all aspects. Recall when biz class was born 30yrs ago, its std was no better than today's PY(Premium Economy) and just a tad better than today's Y+.
2. In the last 10yrs, the biggest evolutions in biz class seat design were going from angled lie-flat +indirect aisle access to horizontal flat bed +direct aisle access for every seat.....almost fully matching F in these aspects and nothing much can be gained fm further improvements(e.g. you can't go flatter than flat for a seat/bed in terms of sleeping comfort).
3. Still confined to more or less the same cabin floor area(i.e. seat count and allocated floor area per seat implications /limits per fare sustainable in biz class segment), 1 of the few real evolutions remaining will be improved privacy to close the gap with F. This typically means more elaborate partitions(Or more claustraphobia for some) in a finite space for biz class while still maintaining current seat count....and a staggered 7 abreast layout on 779 where the only part of the seat visible to other pax/crew is a small opening to the aisle will be pretty hard to beat.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying 1-2-1 reverse-herring bone layout for biz class like the future concept design for BA won't exist. I totally agree some carriers will continue to adopt the nex gen version of such layout in 2020. However, I just tend to believe more airlines will go to staggered 7 abreast in their quest to maintain a seat count higher than what 1-2-1 can offer AND can still improve privacy simultaneously.....also eliminate the small box /tray to put your foot in while lying horizontally which is unavoidable in a 1-2-1 layout if a reasonable seat count means anything.
20 May 2015
Total posts 579
That's unlikely because BE Apex (the product you're discussing) is relatively low in density.
If anything I think we can expect the trend to be high-density-business-class, particularly in airlines that retain first class.
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1242
Consistency is a great thing.
27 Mar 2014
Total posts 39
Don't know why LH's J seats have to slant towards each other so it feels like you almost play footsies with the person next to you...
Austraian's is ok, i like the single throne seat although the footwell can get pretty narrow when its between the two seetas in front of you...
That Swiss design doesn't look to bad...
30 Aug 2013
Total posts 437
- Fully flat
- Direct aisle access for all
- Some privacy.
Its not rocket science.
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1242
Nor is it exactly "next-generation" - current generation seats from competitors already offer all of these benefits. The LH group has some catching up to the present to do.
10 Dec 2015
Total posts 177
It is semi-rocket science if designers try to meet all 3 of your criteria AND maximizing seat count /minimizing seat count loss within a finite business cabin floor area as demanded by airline bossess who pay their salaries /consulting fees.
I have tremendous respect for the profession of premium cabin seat designers. Some designs today are amazingly space-efficient yet still manage to be very comfortable & spacious/private for pax @ the same time.
16 May 2017
Total posts 3
Let's see if airNZ can adopt a similar product!
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
NZ already adopted direct aisle access+flatbed design std for every J seat in their longhaul fleet since 2010 1st appearing on the 77W.
10 Sep 2012
Total posts 149
Lufti has never been innovative.
25 Sep 2013
Total posts 1242
Interesting to see that LH has gone for throne seats on alternating rows in the centre section. How does this bode for seating efficiency?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jan 2015
Total posts 70
Interesting Layout. Not wanting to be negative but by 2020 I do think that the business class product will have evolved a lot further than what I'm seeing here. The 1-2-1/1-1-1 is definitely a step in the right direction though.
20 May 2015
Total posts 579
I have to admit that layout looks very inefficient to me. Herringline in the 777-9 should be 4-abreast easily (for reference, United Polaris (same seating design) is 4-abreast in the 777-300, and the 777-9 is four inches wider on the inside). I could see 1-2-1/1-1-1 Herringline in an A330 but in a 777-9 it really does seem wasteful.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2560
No, these are LH's business class seats
03 May 2013
Total posts 677
777 never-too loud for long haul and ultra long haul..Boeing seem not to have addressed this from what I can see. Airbus A350 wins here and everywhere else. As far as the J seats go QR and DL(not that I would every fly that horrid airline again) have got it all sewn up with their J suites. everything else is still just a 'seat'.
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@Joe:
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 Oct 2017
Total posts 98
Sorry David , I don't buy LH's spin. That top photo is a huge backward step. Firstly, couples traveling can only sit (nearly) together, only the centre aisle and only every second row with those seats angled away from each other. They'll need to screw their necks 110 degrees to talk to each other. On the window aisle singles, every second passenger has to do a 110 degree to look out the window. Who wants to sit on an angle to their direction of travel anyway? Just as bad as BA's rear facing business seats and with planes flying 4 degrees nose up it will feel like sitting on your side slightly. 10% more space? How, when herringbone config means feet go into Pigeon hole and suites box one in. Compromised comfort for the whole duration of the flight to alleviate five seconds of " not having to step over another passenger" ?? really? it only occurs when that passenger is sleeping, probably once or twice a flight. Let's be honest and call it putting more business class passengers in a given space just like QF and other airlines have done, proven by capacity increases following a plane mid life "cabin refit" and seat pitch decreases.
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