Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings has announced it is allowing
passengers to pay to keep the middle seat next to them empty following a
successful trial period.
According to the carrier, over the last few weeks it has
sold more than 5,000 ‘free middle seats’ via its telephone service centre
without actively promoting the option. It will officially launch for bookings
made through its website from September.
Passengers will pay at least €18 for the product, which will
guarantee that the middle seat in any row will be kept empty. The option will
be available for all Eurowings routes within Europe, subject to availability.
The airline has not released details on how the price will vary.
Eurowings said its Biz class fares already include the price
of leaving the middle seat empty.
CEO Jens Bischof said: “The positive feedback during the
test phase showed us very clearly that our guests often want more comfort and
distance on board. Ultra-low cost no longer works since corona, at least not in
our home market Germany. We therefore assume that the free middle seat will
become a very important product for travel in the future.”