Originally Posted by
LHPII
a few Facts about New european cabin that goes into operation in December:
- increase od earning capacity on all short-haul aircraft as follows:
B735 from 111 to 120 seats
B733 from 127 to 140 seats
A319 from 132 to 138 seats
A320 from 150 to 168 seats (in reality from 156 to 168)
A321 from 190 to 200 seats (in reality probably from 190 to 206)
- all wardrobes are going out
- A321 will lose one toilet + service support unit at 2R door
- B737 will get larger overhead bins
- seat pitch will be decreased, but living space will be increased in return due to a new thinner seat design
- cabin gets completely new design
- servicewise there will be 4 servicemodules in C class and 5 in Y class which will not be only tied to flight time but also on competative situation on specific route. For example: there will be a small snack on intra-german flights, like Mueslibar.
- stricter control of handbaggage will be enforced where possible
- the launch of NEK will be in december, and external comunication will be launch in January 2011
- retrofit of the wholle fleet will be finished by november of 2011.
Once again thanks for your insight information! ^ I truly appreciate it, it's such a change from the typical posts here starting "how can I maximize..."
Now let's discuss it. Generally it's nice to see that they finally realized that there is space for improvement. Every concept looks good on paper, of course the advantages will be highlighted and pointed out. We will all see what this means in reality. Right now, at least I don't expect the worst.
Not sure who will buy the additional seats though. Besides the very am and the very pm flights, which ones are actually sold out within Europe? Also, at some point they had thought about getting rid of the 735 fleet with the 733 following. Is this "off the table"? They are "fine" but are getting rather old, they soon start to be 20 years and older. An "old" 747 takes off twice / day at the maximum, a 737 does it several times, meaning it will be worn out way faster. I am quite surprised LH still plans to invest in this type some big bucks.
As per their "schedule", it seems the fleet overhaul will happen very fast, unfortunately this never works with their long houl (aka several years to change from old C to current C)