OREANDA-NEWS.   After the presentation of the new Premium Economy Class at this year’s ITB in Berlin, it’s time for the next step. The new travel class can now be booked on flights flown by Boeing 747-8s. From 10 December, the Premium Economy Class will have guaranteed availability on all flights served by the new jumbo. The destinations that can now be booked include the routes from Frankfurt to and from Buenos Aires, Chicago, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Sгo Paulo, Seoul, Beijing and Washington, D.C.

From late January 2015, the first retrofitted aircraft of the type A340-600 are scheduled to take off from Munich for Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo; from late April the A380-800 is planned to then fly from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, New York, Miami, Houston, San Francisco, Shanghai and Singapore.

To mark the start of sales, spontaneous travellers can save up to 200 euros: the US cities of Chicago and Washington, D.C. are available from EUR 1,199, and the longest route in the Lufthansa network, Buenos Aires, is available from EUR 1,499. These prices are available till 12 June for travel from Germany between December 2014 to 28.2.2015.

“We have had an incredible response for our Premium Economy Class since its launch event, particularly from passengers who we are trying to reach with this new offer. The Premium Economy travel experience will now be even more within reach – up to 50 per cent more personal space at attractive prices and already honoured with an award as a product in the premium segment,” said Jens Bischof, member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board – Sales, Product and Marketing.

The design experts in the panel of judges of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2014 were so impressed by the new Lufthansa range that the design competition’s panel of judges, which is made up of forty experts, awarded the seats in Premium Economy and Business Class each a Red Dot Award in the category ‘Vehicle Accessories’. During the competition, international design experts deliberated on and evaluated 4,815 entries from 53 countries. The final of the internationally renowned product competition will be celebrated on 7 July 2014 in Essen with the official award-giving ceremony.

“The design and features of the seat are based on extensive passenger surveys and workshops with sales partners. More than 1.5 million passengers per year will be able to enjoy a new travel experience with the installation of 3,600 seats in all 106 long-haul aircraft in just one year.