I had a very interesting chat yesterday on the terrace in FCL/E in ZRH with the lead person in LX who is in charge of the F class product and overall cabin service )totally by coincidence). A couple of points:
1. As of now, the plan is that B777 will have 2 rows of new F, so a total of 6 seats (4 singles and 2 of those that are 1,5 seat). The rest of the fleet will have only 1 row of F. LX is also looking at the overall F cabin sale to determine which routes will be operated by LX but without F cabin (Montreal has been selected as one to permanently lose F and go back from WK to LX).
2. The plan is to sell these 1,5 seats only if the booking is made for two pax at the same time. Otherwise, if a passenger is a solo traveler and wishes to purchase this seat and it's the only seat that is available for sale, the passenger will be charged a premium. It won't be a double price though. Considerations are whether to charge extra 45% or 65% of the price of the single seat (though not clear what the base price is to use for the calculation of the %%).
3. The reason why LH would like to move from 8F cabin is that according to the sales data, on average LHG sells a max of 4 full fare F. The rest is either through bid for upgrade or eV. So, the thinking is that why to have a cabin with 8F when you can have a cabin with 4F that will can be sold at 4F and use the rest of the space for C cabin that has been selling really good. Also, it appears that no final decision has been mae re: C cabin having sliding doors all across the cabin or only in select "premium" suites. When I asked why the commercial shows otherwise, the person smiles and said "Ask LH".
4. One of the reasons why La Prairie is no longer offered in F is because the contract ended (apparently, it was not the issue of cost). Currently, there are discussions about bringing it back, as according to the feedback that LX received, F pax do not view Soeder premium enough. LX has the same issues with Altitude 1150, whereby LX is considering replacing it with Evian or Perrier to bring "more premium experience."
5. LX is not planning to change its catering provider in LX lounges. Apparently, the feedback that LH received re: Kaefer is disastrous. However, no discussions take place re: changing back to Do&Co or another provider across all LX/LH/OS lounges for F/HON.
6. There will be massive reconstruction of ZRH in A section coming soon, with the right side of A gates being closed for re-design. After 4 years, they will switch to the left side of A gates. So, more bus gates. For this, they are already looking at getting more cars for apron pick-up/drop offs. One of the option is to use C bus that would also wait for HONs in Y. Or ditching C bus altogether and use it for HONs only.