Lufthansa A350-900: 24 lighting scenarios to fit with day and night-time biorhythms

Lufthansa will be the first airline worldwide to use a range of different settings for the on-board lighting of the A350-900 which are designed to fit with the day and night-time biorhythms of their passengers.

Any passengers who have ever traveled across a number of time zones will know the problem – your body clock gets out of sync. With the introduction of Lufthansa’s new A350-900, it has now for the first time become possible to work with and fit with the biorhythms of the passengers by providing the right type of light at the right time. Lighting effects will also be used to emulate a pleasant restaurant atmosphere on board during mealtimes.

“The well-being of our passengers is of particular importance to us. So it represents a real milestone for us that we can now achieve these improvements with this innovative lighting technology,” says Dr. Reinhold Huber, who is responsible for further development in the area of Customer Experience.

Altogether, the new A350-900 LED technology can provide around 24 different lighting settings. Following on from the A350-900, Lufthansa will also be re-fitting its Boeing 747-800s with the new lighting system.

The use of a range of lighting settings is based on findings from research in the field of Chronobiology and on known effects of our day and night-time biorhythms.  A large number of scientific findings provide the foundation for the technology, such as those by Prof. Christian Gunga of Charité and by Dr. Achim Leder. Warm light for relaxation is supplied during periods of rest, whereas cooler light provides stimulation for more active phases. Lufthansa has developed these various lighting moods in collaboration with lighting designers from Kardorff Ingenieure in Berlin –

“Our focus is on passengers’ needs when it comes to selecting the type of light to be used. We are thus able to create a pleasant atmosphere which can significantly improve the passengers’ feeling of well-being,” explains Professor Volker from Kardorff.

As of 10 February, Lufthansa will be stationing the first ten Airbus A350-900 aircraft in Munich. The first destinations served will be Delhi and Boston. The aircraft will have space for 293 passengers – 48 in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy and 224 in Economy Class. The A350-900 is now the world’s most advanced and most environmentally friendly long haul aircraft. It uses 25 percent less kerosene, produces 25 percent fewer emissions and is significantly quieter on take-off than comparable types of aircraft.