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A few days ago, I wrote about the new Lufthansa business class, which will be rolled out from 2020 when the airline takes delivery of the new Boeing 777-9 aircraft. The new business class will eventually be installed on all Lufthansa longhaul planes (however long this may take…). The new cabin comes with direct aisle access for all seats and features a 1-2-1 and 1-1-1 layout.

One thing that was not mentioned in the original tweet was that Lufthansa will be introducing improvements to its business class soft product in “early 2018”. In a press release, Lufthansa announced today that:

“There will already be some innovations in the existing Business Class in the upcoming year that will significantly improve the comfort level for passengers. Mattresses that have been developed exclusively for Lufthansa will be provided on long intercontinental flights as of early 2018. They will ensure pleasant sleep on board. On request, passengers will also be provided with sleeping sweaters. So far, these have only been available in First Class. Lufthansa will also be offering its Business Class passengers new blankets. They are lined, but still light, and will keep the passengers warm at night.”

You can access the full press release here.

It is also currently unclear whether the Boeing 777-9 will still feature a first class cabin. (Remember that the new A350s no longer have a first cabin.) I asked the Lufthansa Press Team on Twitter, and unfortunately it seems that they haven’t made up their mind:

Bottom line

Is the new Lufthansa business class product an improvement over the current offering? Undoubtedly yes. The new pj’s, mattresses and duvets will also be a nice touch and will undoubtedly make for a more comfortable experience.

But as  regular readers pointed out in the comments on my original article, this is a long overdue update. I still wonder whether this will feel somewhat unimaginative by the time it is finally rolled out in 2020. According to the press release, one Lufthansa executive board member said: “The new, ultra-modern Lufthansa Business Class creates a new global benchmark.” I am really not sure you can call the new 1-1-1 and 1-2-1 cabin configuration “a new global benchmark” – many airlines have offered similar layouts, pj’s and mattresses for sometime already. Lufthansa merely seems to be catching up somewhat.

Maybe I am a little hard here on Lufthansa given what BA Club World is like at the moment (with a 2-4-2 layout on the 777, 747 and A380, 2-3-2 on the 787), though admittedly we don’t know yet what the new Club cabin will look like. But it remains to be seen how the new Lufthansa business cabin will compete with Qatar’s new Qsuite business class product which has certainly upped the game.

I sincerely hope that there will be a first class offering on these new aircraft, perhaps with a revamped first class product? Opting for a 3-class configuration (business, premium economy, economy), like Lufthansa did on the A350, would mean fewer first class redemption options…