Lufthansa’s A350 heads to Tokyo

Travellers on Lufthansa’s Munich-Tokyo Haneda route now get to fly on the airline’s Airbus A350 aircraft, the newest addition to its fleet.

The deployment brings the total number of A350s flying out of Lufthansa’s Munich hub to six, with Tokyo joining Beijing, Hong Kong, Boston, Delhi and Mumbai. Lufthansa has 25 A350s in total on order.

Lufthansa configures its A350 with three classes – business, premium economy and economy. Business class features a total of 48 seats spread across two cabins that are laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration, meaning window-seat passengers don’t get direct access to the aisles, a downside that’s exacerbated by the fact that seats also don’t have partitions between one another.

Premium economy, meanwhile, is configured 2-3-2 with 21 seats across three rows, and the economy cabin is set up with 224 seats in a 3-3-3 layout and features a new design and improved storage. Business Traveller took an in-depth look inside the A350 when it made its debut in Hong Kong in September. Lufthansa’s Munich-Tokyo Haneda service flies daily, taking about 11 hours and 20 minutes flying to Tokyo and 12 hours on the return Munich leg.

The deployment of the A350 from Munich is the latest in a number of advancements Lufthansa is making at the hub. Earlier last year, it announced plans to deploy five of its 14 superjumbo A380 aircraft at Munich, mostly to cater to its Hong Kong, Beijing and Los Angeles routes.

Lufthansa has also been focusing its attention on Tokyo’s Haneda Airport as opposed to its sister Narita Airport, having axed its Frankfurt-Tokyo Narita service back in January 2017 while keeping its direct and via-Munich services between Frankfurt and Tokyo Haneda. lufthansa.com