Some passengers notice even the smallest details that others don't even notice: Austrian Airlines installed the latest generation of short-haul economy seats from the Lufthansa Group in the Airbus A320neo. So far, this has only been used in a few A320ceo at AUA.

Austrian Airlines currently has 29 Airbus A320ceo, three A321-100 and three A200-320 and one AXNUMXneo in this size class. So far, only the aircraft with the registrations OE-LZA, OE-LZB, OE-LZC, OE-LZD, OE-LZE and OE-LZF as well as the new OE-LZN are equipped with the new standard Eco seat of the Lufthansa Group. All other Airbus jets in this class still have the "old" seats installed.

According to a spokeswoman, it is the "Group Standard Seat" that has been installed in airliners of the Lufthansa Group's A320 series for several years. So far, only a few machines at Austrian Airlines have been equipped with it. This is due to the fact that only six A320ceo have been converted so far and only one A320neo has been flown in. Other group members are much more advanced with the “new European cabin”.

According to Austrian Airlines, more space and better padding

Passengers who don't look very closely will only see two obvious features: Compared to the previous model, the compartment in which the safety card and the sales catalog are usually located is no longer arranged vertically, but transversely. There are also illuminated USB sockets that were not previously available. If you look closely, you can also quickly see that the distance between the backrests is a little larger, the font on the backrest of the front seat is different and there are a few other small differences.

No wonder, because the current generation of seats no longer comes from Recaro, but is supplied by the Italian company Geven, according to an AUA spokeswoman. The exact model name is "Geven Essenza". A spokeswoman said: "The seat model has already been installed on OE-LZA to OE-LZF. The USB system is already installed on these seats”. The Airbus A320neo OE-LZN is also equipped with these seats.

When asked what the benefit for the passengers is, the media officer answered as follows: "On the one hand, the seat of the Geven Essenza is lighter than comparable previous models. For passengers, this seat offers more "living space" (more room in the shoulder area) and is also better padded".

Third and fourth A320neo will be delivered fully assembled

Austrian Airlines put the first Airbus A320neo into active scheduled service last week. However, the OE-LZN already suffered an AOG on Friday. There were problems with the engine controls. The OE-LZO will shortly be taken over "naked". In concrete terms, this means that, just like with the OE-LZN, the installation of the cabin is carried out by the technical company in Vienna. This Airbus A320neo is also painted in Bratislava.

The two newcomers of this type, which will be brought into service in the spring of next year, will be taken over "ready to use". This means that painting and cabin equipment are already carried out in the Airbus factory. However, there will be no noticeable differences for passengers.