Lufthansa's Seat Race: Airbus A330 vs Boeing 747-8

Which aircraft will be the first to introduce Lufthansa's new business class seat? The race is on between the Boeing 747-8 and the Airbus A330-300.

Lufthansa passengers have long bemoaned that the business class seat the airline has on offer is no longer on par with what the competition has to offer. The airline decided to make the Boeing 747-8 the launch platform to address that situation.

Lufthansa was hoping to introduce the the 747-8 last year, however, program delays have pushed the fielding timeline into next year, keeping passengers waiting for the new product offering.

Now, the question is whether the 747-8 will be the first of the airline's aircraft to feature the B/E Aerospace product at all. The seat also is going onto new A330-300s the carrier has on order (and will eventually be retrofitted on other A330s, A340s and the A380).

With delivery of the A330 and 747-8 to Lufthansa now both expected at the end of the first quarter of next year, any further 747-8 delays could see the the high-profile product upgrade introduced first on the Airbus widebody, taking some of the glamour out of the first 747-8 delivery to an airline customer.

Tags: tw99, Lufthansa, Airbus, Boeing