Lufthansa Inaugurates Airbus’ Comfort-Centric Narrow-Body Cabins

Flying narrow-body aircraft in Europe is set to become something to get excited about again thanks to cabin innovations debuting on Lufthansa Group’s family of A320 aircraft.

Lufthansa is the first airline in Europe to fly Airbus’ sleek new Airspace Cabin retrofit. Lucky passengers on board flight LH1534 from Frankfurt (FRA) to Fuerteventura (FUE) on September 5, 2021, were the first to experience the new cabin.

The Airbus A321neo aircraft was delivered new to the airline in August 2021, fresh from the Airbus plant in Hamburg. Registered D-AIEK, it’s the first aircraft of the Lufthansa Group to featured the Airspace Cabin.

New aircraft delivered to Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and SWISS (airlines also owned by the Lufthansa Group) will also feature upgraded cabin interiors. Delivery date details are yet to be released.

Features of the New Airspace Cabin

The main improvements include comfier seats for passengers, 40% larger overhead bins, and an innovative mood lighting system not too dissimilar to that found on Boeing’s long-haul Dreamliner aircraft.

“For us, premium means providing high-quality, individualized and relevant offers for all our passengers at all times”, explains Heike Birlenbach, Head of Customer Experience at Lufthansa Group.

In an attempt to accommodate as many passengers’ bags in the cabin as possible, the huge overhead bins have been designed with the capacity to hold as much as 60% more luggage and can even stow cases vertically.

The decision to increase overhead bin stowage is likely linked to Lufthansa’s most restrictive and cheapest economy fare, Economy Light, that doesn’t permit passengers to check in a hold bag.

The entire cabin design is said to appear “brighter and friendlier,” according to the airline. A new system, known as Human Centric Lighting, has been specifically designed to compliment passengers’ biorhythms. The innovative technology is programmed to change from warmer tones of red through to cooler hues of blue depending on the time of day.

In terms of all-around cabin comfort, the curvature of the Airspace Cabins will be more forgiving, meaning passengers will have more shoulder space. Improvements have also been made to the accessibility of the onboard washrooms.

Passengers will get to experience the fresh cabin design on both short- and medium-haul routes.

Hot Tip: You’ll want to review our definitive guide to Lufthansa’s direct routes from the U.S. if you’re connecting onward from Lufthansa’s hubs in Frankfurt (FRA) or Munich (MUC).

Final Thoughts

We’re all for innovations in the name of passenger comfort. After all, there’s nothing worse than getting off of a short flight feeling like you’ve done a long-haul red-eye.

Lufthansa Group’s new Airspace Cabins certainly look the part and we’re looking forward to testing it out for ourselves soon.