Summary
- Lufthansa is retrofitting its Airbus A320-200 aircraft to extend overhead cupboard space by 40%, allowing for carry-on bags to be stowed vertically.
- Passengers may also enjoy extra legroom and recent seats with ergonomic backrests, tablet holders, and dedicated USB ports to charge mobile devices.
- The upgrades will begin in Spring 2025 and be accomplished by the top of 2027
German flag carrier Lufthansa is on the point of upgrade its cabin experience. The Star Alliance carrier has just announced it can begin retrofitting a few of its short-haul fleet to extend cupboard space and extra customer amenities on its solder aircraft.
What’s getting upgraded?
The updates will come to the airline’s Airbus A320-200 aircraft family, which fly short and medium-haul routes. Starting in spring 2025, the carrier will install the brand new cabin updates on 38 of the Airbus A320s already flying for the airline. Essentially the most significant headline upgrade is the quantity of overhead cupboard space.
The overhead bins have been redesigned to carry as much as twice as many carry-on suitcases or bags as the present ones. This may be achieved due to an expansion, which leaves the bins 40% larger than they are actually. This extra space now allows luggage and bigger rolling carry-on bags to be stowed vertically, allowing passengers to load them far more quickly and conveniently as they haven’t got to attempt to shove them in sideways or at an angle.
Photo: Lufthansa
The updates are expected to return to the carrier’s existing fleet of A320-200ceos, versus the A320neos that it’s currently receiving. A spokesperson for Lufthansa confirmed exclusively to Easy Flying that the last retrofits are scheduled to happen by the top of 2027. No word is currently available on the status of retrofitting the remaining A320ceos, of which there are greater than a dozen.
Latest seats for smartphone users
The opposite significant upgrade passengers will notice immediately is the additional legroom. Lufthansa is working with Italian manufacturer Geven on the brand new seats, that are designed to supply more legroom with the identical seat spacing due to the ergonomic shaping of the backrests. Sure to be a profit for passengers in all classes of travel.
Photo: Geven
The seats are also being upgraded to future-proof the fleet for the approaching years with in-seat power. Lufthansa will install a dedicated USB port in each seat to charge mobile devices. A feature more commonly seen on long-haul fleets but expanding as passengers expect to make use of their phones throughout the flight.
Lufthansa is further equipping all seats with a novel holder for tablets and smartphones. That is designed to permit guests to look at movies and shows more easily, given the dearth of built-in entertainment screens. The holders may also liberate space on the seat’s folding table for other uses.
Photo: Airbus
The narrowbodies should not the one ones getting an upgrade. A brand new business class cabin, Allegris, can be retrofitted on its Airbus A380s and Boeing 747-8s. The cabin can be because of feature within the carrier’s still-to-be-delivered Airbus Dreamliners and A350s.