According to Travel Express Magazine, TUI fly Benelux is planning a new class for its Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The current Premium Class (called Star Class in the Netherlands) will be replaced by Deluxe seats.
Between April and July, all 5 Dreamliners from TUI fly Belgium and TUI fly Netherlands will be adapted to the new configuration. Each aircraft will be fitted with 25 new Deluxe seats, which means that, in addition to Economy and Comfort, there will be a total of 3 travel classes in both Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Deluxe seats remain the same as the current Premium seats, but they will provide the passenger with significantly more legroom with 106 cm (instead of the current 94 cm). The new Deluxe concept not only includes more legroom but also additional services.
For example, Deluxe passengers can use priority boarding, the fast lane at Brussels Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, 40 kg of luggage and access to the lounge at the departure airport. The meals are also renewed.
Each of the 5 Dreamliners from the Benelux network will have a total of 25 Deluxe seats, 126 Comfort seats and 154 Economy seats after the switchover, making them easily interchangeable within the long-haul fleet. The Economy and Comfort concepts remain unchanged. The first flight with a renewed Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes off on 1 July.
Comment: The TUI fly Dreamliners are among those having the highest seat density (300 seats). The new configuration provides more legroom in the Premium (Deluxe) class, but still manages to carry 5 more passengers (305) in total. I fear that the Economy passengers will be stacked like sardines…
