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Lufthansa upgrades Frankfurt Chennai flight to new business class – Bangalore Aviation
Lufthansa new business class full flat seat
Lufthansa new business class full flat seat. Photo courtesy Lufthansa.

Lufthansa upgrades Frankfurt Chennai flight to new business class

May 29, 2014 1 Comment 798 Views

German carrier Lufthansa has finally upgraded its Chennai Frankfurt flights to the new business class with full-flat seats. The flight is operated with an Airbus A340-300 aircraft. Coincidentally, the carrier also celebrates its 20th anniversary of operating flights to Chennai.

Lufthansa new business class seat with pillow and blanket
Lufthansa new business class seat. Photo courtesy Lufthansa.

The new Lufthansa business class seat features a full-flat horizontal sleeping surface measuring 6.5 feet in length in an innovative V-shape. The new business class is already offered on the carrier’s Boeing 747-8i flights to Bangalore, New Delhi, and soon to commence to Mumbai, as well as the Airbus A330-300 flights to Mumbai.

See photos and video of the new business class here.
Read our review of the new business class here.

Mr. Wolfgang Will, Director, South Asia, Lufthansa, said,

“The first Lufthansa flight landed in Chennai in 1994 and it’s been a wonderful journey for us. On the occasion of completion of 20 years in Chennai, we would like to thank our customers and our partners with the introduction of our latest global offering – the new Business Class seat on our refurbished A340-300 aircraft operating on the Chennai-Frankfurt route. The new Business Class seat with full-flat horizontal sleeping surface takes relaxation and comfort to a completely new level. At Lufthansa, we are constantly innovating and improving our products to add to our customers’ delight and we will continue to invest in the future as well. We also take great pride in the fact that we are the only carrier to offer flat-beds in its business class across all group airlines. We hope our Business Class customers in Chennai will enjoy our new travel experience.”

Analysis

This upgrade was long overdue. Lufthansa was losing premium traffic due to the age of its hard cabin product on the A340-300 which was at least two or three generations behind its competitors from the Gulf. Sources informed Bangalore Aviation the Chennai flight was losing money to the extent it was eroding Lufthansa’s total profits from one of its most profitable destinations, Bangalore, where the carrier has historically enjoyed a premium ranking in both mind and market share.

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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One comment

  1. Sanjeev M
    June 19, 2014 at 23:24

    People don’t fly LH to Chennai anymore from the USA like they used to. Most areas that Lufthansa serves in the USA are also served by one of EK,EY,QR which passengers clearly prefer. BA has the advantage of flying niche USA points like AUS as well as strong LHR O&D. Although there is some auto industry O&D from FRA, I am not sure how much is J class. However, Lufthansa does benefit significantly from United elites and mileage redemptions from the US.

    An interesting development I have noticed is that USA passengers headed to southern and western Tamil Nadu (e.g. Coimbatore, Madurai) are now choosing not to fly to Chennai. Rather they fly to Cochin, Trivandrum, and even BLR which are equally as close to their final destination. And to Cochin and Trivandrum of course, the options are only the Gulf carriers (esp. Emirates)

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