Lufthansa is Certified as a 5-Star Airline
By Peter Miller, Skytrax
Lufthansa has been Certified with the 5-Star Airline rating by SKYTRAX, the international air transport rating organisation. SKYTRAX has bestowed this distinguished honour to only nine other airlines in the world, and Lufthansa is the only European airline to earn this accolade.
The Certified 5-Star Airline Rating recognises a very high overall quality performance and excellence in ground and inflight product provided by Lufthansa to it’s customers.
A critical factor for an airline to achieve 5-Star Certification is consistency of standards, and this is where Lufthansa ranks highly across their network and different cabin types, with a core feature of the Lufthansa 5-star experience being consistent staff service quality across frontline customer touchpoints.
“The award is a well-deserved recognition of our major efforts to make Lufthansa one of the world’s leading premium airlines again,” says Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We have caught up because we made huge investments in our fleet, updated all our cabins, introduced digital services, opened new lounges and improved service on board and on the ground. The combination of premium offerings with the quality and professionalism of our employees has earned Lufthansa the status of a five-star airline,” Spohr adds. “Everyone at Lufthansa can be proud of this certification, especially our colleagues in the cabins and cockpits and on the ground who fulfil our premium promise every day in their interactions with our passengers. I am convinced that the most important factor in getting the fifth star was that we have the best employees.”
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, said: “The achievement of 5-Star Airline status by Lufthansa is not only a great accolade as the first European airline to reach this target, but is a clear recognition of the improvements they have made in recent years, particularly in all areas of the front line service delivery.”
The onboard service standards across all cabin types are meeting a high standard, and Lufthansa cabin staff service quality has developed to a point where it is very competitive within Europe, and performs well against many leading Asian and Middle Eastern airlines.
“The award is a well-deserved recognition of our major efforts to make Lufthansa one of the world’s leading premium airlines again,” says Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG
The seat product consistency is good across the Lufthansa fleet, with economy class seat comfort on widebody and narrowbody aircraft being competitive within the industry, whilst the premium economy seat performs close to Best Practice across much of the rating criteria.
In long haul Business Class, Lufthansa currently has one of the most consistent fleetwide, long haul flatbed seats. A key factor behind Lufthansa gaining 5-Star Airline Certification is the recently announced new business class cabin and seat that will be delivered when the airline receives their first Boeing 777X aircraft. Short haul business class meets the European standard, based on economy style seating with middle seats left vacant. Lufthansa First Class seat product meets a high standard of personal comfort to customers, and the current product is well rated.
Lufthansa delivers a consistent standard of inflight entertainment across the fleet for programme choices, the quality and relevance of film, TV or music options, together with items such as headsets, reading materials, inflight WiFi and phone service.
On the ground, Lufthansa has continued the roll-out of its new Business and Senator lounge products, which are available with increasing consistency across the network. Customers can already see the refreshed interior décor and furniture in most lounges, and in-lounge dining quality and choices have improved. The “Welcome lounge” facilities in Frankfurt provide one of the best premium arrival experiences in the industry, and the First Class terminal in Frankfurt continues to delight those customers lucky enough to travel at the front end of the aircraft.
About Lufthansa
Lufthansa is the biggest airline within the Lufthansa Group. As one of the world’s largest and most prestigious airlines, Lufthansa flies to 165 destinations in 73 countries on 4 continents. Headquartered in Cologne and with hubs in Frankfurt/Main, Munich and Dusseldorf, Lufthansa employs more than 55,000 people. As an industry innovator, Lufthansa has long been committed to environmental care and sustainability, operating one of the most technologically-advanced and fuel-efficient fleet in the world. Its long-haul fleet includes the Boeing 747-8 and the Airbus A380, the industries’ two most environmentally-friendly passenger aircraft. The airline is the largest European operator of the A380 and was also the launch customer for the new Boeing 747-8.
» View the Lufthansa 5-Star Airline Rating
About Airline Star Rating
Introduced in 1999, a leading international Airline Rating system that classifies airlines by the Quality of front-line product and staff service standards. Airline Star Ratings are recognised as a global Benchmark of airline standards, managed by SKYTRAX, the international air transport rating organisation.
