[JohnHarper]

Is there any evidence that this move to remove F has been initiated? It’s not the first time it has been announced and then nothing has happened.

I would have thought that for so long as LH keeps a mediocre C product they should be able to fill eight F seats which is a standard across the fleet now on most of their routes at a reasonable rate.

[LuganoPirate]

I’m flying to NYC from CPT via FRA on 3 aircraft with LH all in F, so no elimination of F on the 380, 747 or 340.

[MartynSinclair]

Enjoy LP and look forward to reading your 3 x First class trip reports…

🙂

[Senator]

JohnHarper,

In this presentation from Q3 2013 the fleet management is described in detail:

http://investor-relations.lufthansagroup.com/fileadmin/downloads/en/charts-speeches/LH-SCORE-Expert-Session-2013-10.pdf

It essentially means that the entire fleet of:
A340-300 and
B747-400
will remove First Class

The latter is a surprise and unfortunate as the separate chair/bed option on Upper Deck has gone down well with customers from what I understand.

[lloydah]

I’ve read reports on Flyertalk that give dates and reg. letters for aircraft being refitted with Y and C only. I believe they have already started.

[KSHaggag]

I presume that given the fact that the A340-300 and B747-400 s will be retired sooner rather than later in the not too distant future ,it makes sense that they will be retrofitted without an F cabin …A380 ,747-800 and A333 s are to stay and will constitute thebackbone of the LH longhaul fleet ,alongside the A340-600 s .

[KSHaggag]

Yep….the seat + bed onboard the 747-400 is great …pitty it will go !!!

[LuganoPirate]

Thanks Martyn, though it will be 4 legs as two of the legs are on a 340, one a -300 and the other a -600. I’m not allowed a stopover but I’ll have 12 hours in MUC on the return. Just enough for a quick trip to Lugano and back!

[KSHaggag]

Good luck LuganoPirate …I love that initiative of hopping from MUC to Lugano …you will have the chance I presume of sampling the 744 on FRA JFK and the A333 on the JFK MUC …

Cheers ,

K

[LuganoPirate]

Thanks Karim, though I just skipped the Lugano bit. 1700 economical reasons and 1850 business ones was the decider!!! That’s about a third of the cost of my entire trip in F. Crazy really. I’ll instead enjoy a good lunch in Munich with a friend of mine then make my way back to the airport.

Talking of which, do you (or anyone else) know if the F/HON lounge is landslide like I believe it is in Frankfurt and they then take you through by car? I’d be grateful for any advice.

[KSHaggag]

Hi LP …having lunch in Munich is an awesome idea …I was just wondering how you would hop from muc to lug …I knew it was damn expensive ..mauve a LH Private biz jet was more affordable relatively if the hop is justified …enjoy your day in my beloved MUC ..

I know the F class lounge in MUC is airside like in FRA …

Would you kindly give us your comments and feedback on the lounge after your visit as I presume it started to show it’s age a bit…now the facilities in FRA hVe been renovated …if is MUC s turn for a facelift …enjoy your stay there and plz let us know what your impressions are …

All the best

K

[SergeantMajor]

The seat + bed arrangement was only temporary – required because of an urgent need to replace Lufty’s outdated regular seats which were well behind the competition.

[millionsofmiles]

SM:

Yes, at least LH did something to offer a noncramped seating.

The formerly already outdated seats were still offering more space than BAs socalled First (which is just a poor bizclass in terms of space.)

[MartynSinclair]

I wish I could edit the 07/02/2014 @ 14:30 GMT post to read…

The seat (+ bed arrangement) was only temporary – required because of an urgent need to replace (Lufty’s) British Airways outdated irregular seats which (were) are well behind the competition.

….just have, it makes more sense now 🙂

[Senator]

SergeantMajor,

My understanding is that this product was a compromise as the approved seat for the Airbus fleet (to be launched with the A380 which everyone knows was late) would not be certified for the upper deck of the B747-400.

Can’t recall how far in advance, but I think it was about a year before the retro-fit started, Lufthansa scaled back on the upper deck to eight seats from the previous 16 and you were given two seats of the “old kind”. One for sitting and one for bed. I tried this twice in 2011 and the issue with this old seat (IMHO) was more technology like IFE as such. My last night flight was downright excellent once the old chair was converted into a full bed with mattress and duvet.

Regardless of temporary or not, the customer feedback is very positive and I am planning to sample this myself during 2014.

On a related note, I think the move to eight seats is a wise move. First should provide an exclusive and luxurious feeling. I find this missing once the tally of passengers reaches 10+.

[Author]

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