Lufthansa has unveiled its latest Business Class seat with a horizontal sleeping surface of 1.98 metres.

The new seat will feature in the new Lufthansa Jumbo Boeing 747-8 Business Class cabin as soon as the aircraft enters scheduled service.

“We integrated our customers very closely into the development of our new Business Class so we would be able to offer a product that was totally in line with their wishes and requirements,” Lufthansa board member Jens Bischof said.

In 2007 Lufthansa conducted a survey of more than 500 frequent flyers to identify their preferences and their requirements of a Business Class seat. With that as the starting point, the airline moved on to the next phase and developed various concepts with the aid of well-known ergonomics experts, designers and seat manufacturers.

In 2010, an eight-week trial was conducted on the Frankfurt-New York-Frankfurt route. In all, 1,349 passengers and a specially recruited test crew evaluated the prototype on flights and terms of comfort, ease of use and technical stability. The outcome is a seat that meets the most discerning demands as regards seating and sleeping comfort.

The new Business Class seat is a major component of Lufthansa’s largest investment to date in its inflight product. Over the next few years, some €3 billion will be channelled into product improvements for passengers. The new seat rounds off the travel experience for Business Class passengers that now encompasses dedicated check-in counters and additional free baggage allowances to fast-track security lanes, access to Lufthansa lounges worldwide and preferential boarding through to exclusive inflight menus.