Geven Continues AIX Selling Spree With Lufthansa Group Deal
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APEX Insight: Lufthansa Group has selected Geven’s new ESSENZA economy-class seat for Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft entering into service on Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS International fleets for short- and medium-haul routes. The seats offer 29 inches of pitch, a slimmed backrest and increased knee clearance, and will be delivered at the beginning of Q1/2019 with a delivery to SWISS, continuing until 2022 for a total of 93 aircraft throughout the group.
Lufthansa Group has selected Geven’s new ESSENZA economy-class seat for Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft entering into service on Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS International fleets for short- and medium-haul routes. The seats offer 29 inches of pitch, a slimmed backrest and increased knee clearance and are part of a larger cabin design modernization project that Lufthansa Group is undergoing.
“In the short-haul market, we are harmonizing the whole group’s fleet so that all A320s and A321s will have the same seat in the future. That’s why the seats use the same structure and plastic parts because those are harder to change – much harder than a seat cover,” said Paul Estoppey, head of Product Management Cabin, Lufthansa Group. “So if we have to move one aircraft to the other side, we can easily transfer it. The goal was to be able to do that without grounding the plane for more than a week.”
The seats will be delivered in 50 ship-sets beginning in Q1 of 2019 with a delivery to SWISS, and continue on until 2022 for a total of 93 aircraft throughout the group. The first aircraft to fly with ESSENZA is expected during the first half of 2019.
Speaking of Geven’s working relationship with the airline group, Alberto Veneruso, the company’s managing director, said: “Lufthansa Group is a very, very demanding customer, but Geven’s development team has proven to be highly responsive when called to meet and satisfy their requirements.”
“In the past, we tended to lead the seat supplier more than we did today,” Estoppey added. “This time it was a real collaboration: We challenged them, but they challenged us as well. We both understood that if we worked well together, we would get the best product.”