Lufthansa wants to improve its reputation, which has been tarnished in recent years by delays, strikes and lost suitcases, with 27,000 new seats for long-haul flights and better service. The company wants to offer passengers more comfort with the “Allegris” seats announced years ago, said Lufthansa Airlines boss Jens Ritter on Thursday in Munich. The first “Allegris” Airbus A350 is now scheduled to take off from Munich towards Vancouver on May 1st – Lufthansa’s most recent target was last year. “Our patience has been strained a little bit in the last few months and years,” said Ritter. Now the company wants to look forward.
Lufthansa has slipped in recent years in the airline rankings of the British company Skytrax, which are based on passenger surveys. In 2023, the company only ranked 21st, behind competitors such as Korean Air, Iberia and Fiji Airways. The new seats are said to be part of the “largest product and service offensive in Lufthansa’s history.”
CEO Spohr confident
According to Ritter, one machine with the “Allegris” seats will be delivered every month in 2024, and two each month next year. The company primarily targets the comfort needs of wealthy passengers who book business or first class. There are also new seats with slightly greater spacing for the vast majority of economy passengers.
Lufthansa also wants to offer better service on the ground and on short-haul flights, as airline product director Heiko Reitz explained. Short-haul aircraft are to be equipped with new internet antennas so that passengers can communicate with the outside world during the flight at no extra charge.
CEO Carsten Spohr told the “Handelsblatt”: “I am sure that as soon as Allegris is on the market, we will again do significantly better in terms of customer satisfaction.” According to Spohr, work is also being done on issues such as on-board catering in economy class on short and medium-haul routes: “We are currently looking into expanding the range of catering without additional payment.” At the same time, reliability and punctuality will continue to improve. However, Spohr warned against expectations being too high. Given the sharp increase in costs in Germany, it is becoming increasingly difficult to offer basic services at home.