Lufthansa has introduced a ‘Sleeper’s Row’ option in economy cabins on selected long-haul flights, giving passengers the chance to book a row of seats for themselves.
Passengers can book a Sleeper’s Row at the check-in or at the gate before their flight.
They will have three or four adjacent seats for the entire the flight, along with a pillow, blanket and mattress topper.
A special seat belt can be used, even the passenger is lying down.
The option is available on flights of 11 hours or more, such as on routes to the Far East, the US west coast, Central and South America, or southern Africa.
The surcharge is between €159 and €229 euros per route and a maximum of three Sleeper’s Rows are offered per flight. Reservations in advance are not possible.
The German airline tested the Sleeper’s Row on Frankfurt-São Paulo service for several weeks at the end of 2020.
It said: “The offer received much positive feedback from passengers and was in high demand.
“The Sleeper’s Row is a further step towards more product diversity in economy class to meet passengers’ wishes for more comfort and individuality.”
In February 2020, Air New Zealand filed patent and trademark applications for the Economy Skynest, which would provide six full length lie-flat sleep beds in economy cabins.
And in 2015, Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana launched an economy sleeper class service on flights from London, by combining three economy seats for passengers.