I checked out their mockup in hall 2.2 on ITB Berlin and found their new seats quite comfortable and well-designed, yet not revolutionary.

They make good use of the available seat pitch by slighlty tilting the seat back and removing structures and amenities from the knee area. 

While slimline, I still found the padding adequate.

The two folding tables – one for drinks and devices, one for trays – certainly come in handy, as well as the USB chargers. The large screen truely is amazing and crystal clear.

On the downside I found that all the plastic elements look and feel cheap and the armrests are very narrow. I am also not sure how well the seat’s fabric will age.

So while not revulutionary it is still a good hard product. One of the attendants told me the new seats will premiere on Qatari`s new A 321neos so it will take some tome before they will be installed in the lon-haul fleet.

Some cute plactic models of their inflight catering were also on Display:

Would love to fly them one day, however, they never seem to fly wehere I want to go. Here’s to hoping for a 5th Freedom sector Frankfurt to Boston!

 

Funny Side Story: United also was @ITB to promote their new premium economy. They had a nice booth with two original seats and a huge display of their PE tableware, wines, and amenitys. I hung around several minutes displaying genuine interesst and a trade visitor’s badge, yet neither the sour-looking attendand nor the two chatting UA employees who sat in the demo seats sipping a drink of water offered a greeting – let alone an invitation to try anything or ask a question.
Well, they a r e conistent, you’ve got to give them that.