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USA Today
25-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Lufthansa's first class suites finally take flight with beds, tablets and a 2-person sofa
Lufthansa's first class suites finally take flight with beds, tablets and a 2-person sofa Show Caption Hide Caption Tips for flying with kids: Advice to make your family flight easier Learn how to have stress-free air travel with tips for flying with kids. Lufthansa's new first class suites, featuring enclosed rooms with lie-flat beds, were delayed for eight years due regulatory scrutiny. The innovative control tablet used for seat adjustments and entertainment also underwent rigorous cybersecurity checks. Lufthansa's Allegris first class suites are now available on select A350 flights, with plans to expand to Boeing 787s and other aircraft. MUNICH, Germany ― German airline Lufthansa officially introduced its new first-class suites – eight years after they were announced and after some of the airline's planes had to fly with the first-class cabin sitting empty. Although the suites were initially proposed in 2017, they faced hurdles during the development and regulatory approval process, and it took a while for the airline to begin the rollout. European regulators generally oversaw the process, but the approvals are reciprocal with the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. Still, Lufthansa's CEO Jens Ritter said the slow start has been worth the wait. 'We are back to becoming Europe's premium airline,' Ritter said during a press briefing. 'People are eager to fly, and they are willing to spend money for flying premium.' Here's what Lufthansa had to work on getting approved as it planned to refresh its premium image Lufthansa's two-person suite problem The Airbus A350 that Lufthansa used as the first-class demonstrator in Munich was outfitted with three suites. The two along the windows accommodate one person, and the center suite can accommodate up to two passengers on a sofa seat that converts to a double bed. That double-occupancy suite was one of the first big questions for regulators because it raised concerns about evacuation in the event of an accident. 'Usually, you're not having two people in one suite with only one entrance,' Milutin Bogdanovic, project manager for cabin interiors at Lufthansa, told USA TODAY. 'This was a nice long discussion to get this one working, to get the authorities accepting two people in one suite with only one entrance.' Privacy needed to be safe All three suites feature nearly full-height walls and a variety of other amenities, including seats with heating and cooling functions like a high-end car, controls that are fully adjustable using an in-suite tablet, ample storage and more. According to Lufthansa executives, one of the benefits of the high walls is extra privacy. The airline even encourages guests to change into their complimentary pajamas without leaving the suite. But that privacy was another hurdle for regulators. According to Bogdanovic, the Airbus A350 was never designed to carry suites with such high walls. 'It was defined by Airbus and the European authority that this one is a closed compartment. So, this closed compartment needs or has got special requirements for decompression, airflow, and so on and so on, that Airbus has never planned for,' he said. Flying in luxury: What's the difference between first and business class? In order to get it approved, Lufthansa had to go through a whole new regulatory process, including getting its materials tested and even a live evacuation demonstration of the suites, to satisfy regulators that they met existing safety standards despite being a new layout. Even the control tablet delayed approval Bogdanovic said the tablet, used to control both the seat adjustments and the inflight entertainment system, posed another challenge for the airline and regulators to hash out. 'To do it here, I'm not talking to the aircraft or to the seat I'm talking to the IFE system. And that that was kind of an innovation from our side to see, does this work?" he said. 'Cybersecurity was a big topic that we had to overcome' because regulators were concerned that the new electronics posed a safety risk. Ultimately, Lufthansa's innovations were approved, and the airline is already flying planes with the new first-class suites on select routes. For now, elite frequent flyers and other VIPs receive comp upgrades to first class, but the airline is selling tickets in the new first class on flights beginning March 30. The following U.S. cities will have service to and from Munich with Allegris first class: Chicago San Diego San Francisco For now, Allegris first class will only be available on routes served by some A350s. The airline plans to install the new seats and suites on new Boeing 787s as they get delivered and will retrofit some older aircraft as well, but the seats designed for each aircraft may need separate approvals. How new airline seats are approved While Lufthansa's Allegris product is just the latest example of a complex new seating product that needed approval, the German airline is hardly alone in trying to innovate, and regulators across the aviation industry have a well-defined (if sometimes arduous) process to certify new onboard amenities as airworthy – essentially, to certify that it's safe. 'Every part, piece, component that's installed in a civilian aircraft from engines, inflight entertainment, whatever, has to be certified by the appropriate civilian authority,' Robert Joslin, associate professor of practice for the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University told USA TODAY. He said manufacturers and other stakeholders must be able to prove that every component performs its intended function and does so safely. 'The seats have to meet a very rigorous standard,' Shawn Pruchnicki, an assistant professor at the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University, told USA TODAY. Pruchnicki said that during the approval process, regulators test seats in key areas, including structural safety and integrity, flammability, egress, and electronic component integrity. 'We have so many electrical components in first-class seats, especially some of the sleeper beds, where there's so much electrical capabilities, that all of that has to meet standards as well. They can't just randomly pick some type of wire and throw it all together,' Pruchnicki said. According to Joslin, regulators also hold different components to different standards based on how dangerous it is for them to fail. 'If it's the pilot's display, that would be an Alpha, a design assurance level of A. You don't want the pilot's display to go out,' he said. But seat components, so long as the seat can be returned to its upright position for landing, are generally given a little more leeway. Once a design like Lufthansa's Allegris suites is approved, it becomes easier for other airlines to follow suit because the new applicable rules get published in public documents. 'When you're the first manufacturer that gets one of these special conditions, that probably takes the longest. Once they're published in the federal register, it's not a secret,' Joslin said. 'The first person out of the gate, they might get the market edge, but it takes them a little bit longer.' The reporter on this story received access to this event from Lufthansa. USA TODAY maintains editorial control of content. Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
You can forget taking a flight to Germany today
It's a bad day to try to take a flight to or from Germany. A mass strike has caused huge disruption at the country's airports on Monday. 94% of flights were canceled at Frankfurt Airport, the country's busiest, a German news agency said. Hundreds of thousands of passengers are facing disruption due to a strike in Germany, which has led to almost all flights at the country's busiest airports being canceled Monday. The 24-hour walkout began at midnight on Monday and immediately caused mass disruption. At Frankfurt Airport, the country's busiest, 94% of the day's 1,116 scheduled takeoffs and landings have been canceled, the German news agency dpa reported. "There will be massive disruptions at Frankfurt Airport all day today," its website says, adding that passengers should not travel to the airport. Munich Airport expected operations to be "severely disrupted," while Berlin Brandenburg Airport said it will have no regular flights. According to data from Cirium, 108 flights are scheduled between Germany and the US on Monday, accounting for over 31,000 seats. On Friday, the service workers union called on public-sector employees and ground and security staff to go on strike. It also targeted airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Düsseldorf, Weeze, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart, and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden. Jens Ritter, the CEO of flag carrier Lufthansa, said in a Sunday LinkedIn post that he was "stunned and really worried." "What Verdi calls a 'warning' strike is again bringing air traffic to a halt," he added, and called for "cooperation instead of confrontation." A warning strike is a common tactic in German labor negotiations. Monday's action relates to two separate disputes — one for airport security workers and a wider one for public-sector employees. said negotiations for the more than 2.5 million federal and local government employees across Germany will continue on Friday. It is calling for an 8% pay increase with a minimum increase of 350 euros ($380) a month, plus higher bonuses for stressful shift work and three more days off. For aviation security workers, the union wants better occupational health and safety, 30 days of holiday, an annual bonus increase, and other bonuses. also wants restrictions on fixed-term contracts, saying that most aviation security specialists are hired on 24-month contracts, many of whom are then replaced by newly trained employees. "Public employers should know that we are assertive. This will be made clear again in the coming days," said chairman Frank Werneke on Monday. Read the original article on Business Insider
