Alex on… fixed business cabins return to Europe

I had thought that we would never again see a fixed business class cabin within Europe given what happened in the past.

But now I’m not so sure.

Around 20 years ago both Swissair and KLM launched dedicated business class cabins with proper wide seats across their European fleets.

But the fixed cabin failed to cope with the peaks and troughs of European business class. At busy times, business class passengers might be downgraded or, worse still, denied a seat on board altogether.

At times when leisure travellers outnumbered those on business some of the former might find themselves lucky enough to be upgraded.

So after a few years both carriers reverted to the familiar flexible cabin layouts we see today.

However I believe today’s marketplace has changed.

What was impractical in the mid-1990s might be feasible today for the following reasons:

• The big national airlines are rationalising their networks by hiving off their non-core routes

• One reason why business class was popular in the 1990s was because the tariff structure was rigged to get people to book it. Today that’s no longer the case. As a result business class demand has slumped to more manageable levels so a dedicated cabin needn’t take up much space

• Swiss Air and KLM said that one reason for offering proper seats was to reduce the ‘comfort gap’ when transferring from a long-haul to a short-haul premium cabin flight. But that was 20 years ago in the days when even first class didn’t provide as much space as today’s business class

• Today’s long- to short-haul comfort gap is greater still thanks to flat beds in business and suites in first class

• Airlines need a proper short-haul product to impress their top customers, especially those booking long-haul indirect flights.

A few of you hinted in a previous blog that Lufthansa might lead the pack with a fixed cabin once its non-core routes have been handed over to Germanwings.

So what do you think? Will a fixed cabin return anytime soon?

Alex McWhirter

I think the short haul business class experience has to either improve or die. The current offering is a joke no matter who you fly with and the only thing you can say about it is that it’s better than they offer in Y.

I’ve heard the LH story about a new cabin and goodness, they need to do something about the NEK seats. Mrs HT and I are travelling to ADB with them in a couple of weeks and I’m not looking forward to the experience which is at least in two parts with a change at MUC.

The last couple of times I’ve been on LH short haul there have been a maximum of five people in C often spread over seven or eight rows.

I’m not sure the airlines would be interested in why people use their C cabins, just that they do.

Equally, the flexible layouts work well for the airlines but I suspect that most passengers are disappointed with the offering when you compare it for instance to Australia, South East Asia or North America. Europe lags behind.

I wonder who is introducing performance management for cabin crew, AFAIK, LH, LX AF and KL have had it for years. Good that others are catching up.

I don’t think we need to fear price increases, companies even in tighter times will stump up for those they value enough to travel in C and if the rest are consigned to Y I doubt we will miss them.

I think the poster above must be referring solely to experience of BA. Fortunately we have a choice and if LH do introduce fixed C seating as is rumoured I’m sure there won’t be any trouble filling the cabin. Mrs HT is a little worried that award seats won’t be available but at the end of the day we’ll just pay if we want to go badly enough.

BA offers full F and C service with fully flat beds on the London to Moscow route serviced by a 747.

This is an interesting topic but something that will be difficult for the airlines logistically.

I actually like Club Europe and its offering. The lounges are great and I think the seating and personal space on the aircraft is reasonable- 34″ pitch is decent. Catering seems to have improved slightly. However, some of the seats are really battered, and it is odd boarding a brand new factory fresh A319 and then sitting on seats no doubt used before on the 757 fleet!

But this is not a discussion about the BA product, but all European products, and for a 3 hour plus flight, this kind of seating is not so attractive. Arguably fixed seating is already coming in, BB mentioned BA and Moscow, well Turkish have their long haul product on some LHR & CDG flights, but the 737-800 I was on last year had 2 x 2 big seats (but not lie-flat) on a IST-LHR flight.

The benefit of the current products around Europe is flexibility. I suspect this will stay, except for specific routes where there is loads of demand for a premium product, and a predictable number of PAX.

AF I flew C a short while back within Europe, which was decent (although catering rather poor) but would I really want this product on a Levant or Yerevan route? Not really. A few years ago I flew ATH-LHR on a BA767 in a CE seat – very numb bum by the end of that.

I think 3 hours or more is where a superior product is needed.

Business Classes in Europe are far from lamentable, when compared to alternatives in other countries, and particularly at the price points at which they are offered.

Those of us who actually do travel for business, rather than the motley crew of retired armchair CEOs, find the frequencies, timings and facilities on the ground and in the air more than adequate to get a good day’s work in whichever European hellhole we need to get to before its currency collapses.

Airlines take very special care to understand their customer segmentation – probably more than most industries.

They could not be more interested in why customers use their premium cabins.

A fixed cabin on most shorthaul routes would massively increase cost, reduce flexibility of fleet and flexibility for individual flights and drive up cost, pricing many businesses and most leisure passengers out of the market (and end to the £69 upgrade) leading to the ultimate demise of premium offerings on shorthaul.

Business class on European carriers is a disgrace for the money paid. The pricing compared to SE Asia, Australia or North America is in the main higher. Compare the price of C from SIN-BKK with LHR-FCO, journeys of similar length and you will find the former is cheaper and the product far superior.

I really don’t think we as passengers should be worrying about the problems a fixed cabin would have for airlines. It’s their job to deliver a good product at a reasonable price and IMO they are failing to do that at the moment.

There is no reason why a fixed cabin should increase costs, it doesn’t on long haul where they use upgrades and downgrades to get around cabin size, the same would apply to short haul where upgrades have happened for years and on occasions whole cabin downgrades when the middle seat has been filled.

Selling upgrades rather than giving them away is proving quite lucrative I understand so the seats may generate a decent income that way too. Turkish seem to be making good money from their offering.

LH need to do something with their NEK seats. The differentiation of the product to and from FRA and MUC suggests that they have plans. If they, as Europe’s largest carrier decide to go ahead there will be little choice for others but to follow or kill off C all together on short haul.