German flag carrier Lufthansa is no longer a Skytrax awarded Five Star airline following a recent review of the airline’s product and services.
Lufthansa won the Five Star airline accolade in 2017 but a key factor in the decision to rate the airline so highly was based on a new long-haul Business Class seat that Lufthansa hadn’t yet installed on any of its planes.
The all-new Business Class seat was meant to be launched on Lufthansa’s Boeing 777X aircraft but the first deliveries of the next-generation plane which were slated for 2020 have been pushed back until 2025 at the earliest.
Lufthansa has been left with an ageing Business Class on the majority of its fleet with no clear timetable for when the product might be updated to the standards that premium passengers have become accustomed to when flying on other airlines.
Skytrax, which is a British aviation consultancy firm that runs an unofficial but popular Star Rating service for airlines, has not said why Lufthansa lost its Five Star rating.
In the years since being rated Five Star, the airline has scrapped free food and drink in short-haul economy, transferred leisure routes to low-cost subsidiaries and cut back its premium food and beverage service.
Factors that are said to go into the Skytrax rating process include passenger seating, safety procedures, inflight entertainment, cabin cleanliness, catering and comfort amenities.
With Lufthansa now downgraded to a Four Star airline, there are now no European carriers with a Five Star rating. Only 10 airlines are now classed by Skytrax as being worthy of having a Five Star rating – all are based in Asia.
In 2019, Etihad Airways also lost its coveted Five Star rating after cutting free food and drink in short-haul economy and charging passengers for snacks on long-haul flights.
In 2014, the Abu Dhabi-based airline abruptly pulled out of the Skytrax assessment process before it suddenly became a Five Star airline just two years later.
Turkish Airlines does not participate in the Skytrax assessment process and is classed as a Three Star airline.
