Lufthansa offers economy passengers chance to book entire row of seats to bed down on long-haul flights

Passengers on long-haul flights with the German carrier can book ‘Sleeper’s Row’ package at check-in

Lufthansa is launching a new initiative for economy passengers (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Getting a proper night’s sleep on a long-haul flight is no longer the exclusive preserve of business class passengers, thanks to a new initiative from Lufthansa.

The German carrier this week launched ‘Sleeper’s Row’, which allows passengers to book an entire row of economy class seats and turn them into a bed for the duration of the flight.

A thin mattress, blanket and pillow are provided, along with a special seat belt to enable the passenger to be strapped in while lying down.

With up to three Sleeper’s Rows per flight, the new seating set up is subject to availability at the time of check-in or boarding, so cannot be booked in advance.

The roll-out follows of a successful trial of the set up on Lufthansa’s Frankfurt-Sao Paulo route last year.

Lufthansa passengers can now book a whole row of seat on long-haul flights (Lufthansa )

Sleeper’s Row, which costs between €159 and €229 depending on the journey, is available on long-haul flights with a minimum duration of 11 hours.

Costing far less than purchasing additional seats, the initiative is designed to tempt travellers back into the air at a trying time for the aviation industry.

The Lufthansa Group suffered a net loss of €6.7bn in 2020, compared to a profit of €1.2bn in 2019.

Similar innovations in economy class seating are taking place elsewhere too, with Air New Zealand currently developing its ‘Economy Skynest’.

Designed to accommodate six lie-flat beds, each with a minimum width of 58cm, separated by privacy curtains, the Skynest has been several years in development already and it’s unclear when we might actually seen them on planes.

But Air New Zealand has form here, launching its ‘Economy Skycouch’ back in 2010, a set up similar to Lufthansa’s Sleeper’s Row, but bookable when booking your flight and costing considerably more (dependent on the number of passengers using it).

The Skycoach also has several additional family-friendly features, such as compatible harnesses and infant pods.