A new seating class took off last week as Lufthansa flight LH 9880 left Frankfurt Airport on Thursday.

It was the first Boeing 747-8 fitted with 32 premium economy class seats and it flew over Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein area for two hours to mark the launch.

“We are seeing a genuine première,” said Karl Ulrich Garnadt, the CEO of Lufthansa German Airlines.

“We are launching a new travel class for the first time in 35 years.

“With Premium Economy Class alone, we will be able to offer some 1.5 million passengers per year the opportunity to choose extra comfort and quality at affordable prices.”

From December 1 – nine days earlier than scheduled – customers will be able to choose premium economy class on all flights on Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8 fleet.

Seats of this class will make up some 10 per cent of the entire seating capacity on each wide-bodied plane.

Over the next few months, Lufthansa will fit between 21 (Airbus A330-300) and 52 (Airbus A380-800) new seats in each of its aircraft.

Lufthansa is also working intently on upgrades to first and business class on board its long-haul aircraft by late summer 2015.

Lufthansa is currently offering special introductory prices for premium economy class flights.

For instance, return flights to New York are available from €1,067, while passengers to Delhi will pay €1,199.

No rebooking fees are being charged to passengers looking to rebook from economy to premium economy class.

Passengers will only have to pay the difference between the fares of the two tickets, provided that no changes are made to the original flights that were booked.