Today I’m reviewing Luxair Business Class on their Dash 8 turboprop from London City to Luxembourg. The seat is tiny, the plane is loud and the price is high. But those are the sort of things you expect on a small regional carrier like Luxair. However, the service is always good, and they served a nice breakfast, so overall I was quite impressed. This is my 4th time flying with Luxair (I go to Luxembourg for work relatively often) and haven’t had a bad experience yet. So please read my full review to find out if it’s worth flying with this small airline!
I have also reviewed Luxair’s Economy Class too, so check that out if you want to see a comparison https://fred-travel-tips.co.uk/thrilling-luxair-flight-review-bombardier-q400-london-city-to-luxembourg/.
And for my full video review please check out my Youtube vid below:
Luxair
Luxair, as the name suggests, are based in Luxembourg. Unless you’re travelling to Luxembourg it’s very unlikely you would ever have a reason or chance to fly Luxair. However, there is huge demand for business travel from many European business hubs like London, Frankfurt, Paris etc. For instance, Luxair operate up to 6 flights a day to London City Airport. All told Luxair carried around 2.1 million passengers a year pre-Covid. Which isn’t a lot, but for a small country of ~650,000 people, it’s quite impressive.
Luxair have a pretty small fleet of just 22 aircraft operating services to 85 destinations. The workhorse of the fleet is the DeHavilland Dash 8 / Q400 which they have 11 of. It’s also what I’m flying in today. With a total of 76 seats it’s pretty small and is perfect for London City Airport thanks to it’s short takeoff and landing capabilities. They also have 9 Boeing 737NGs, with a further 9 Boeing 737 MAXs on order. Rounding out the fleet are 2 Embraer E190s.
Luckily for all the Lufthansa fans out there, Luxair is a partner of the Miles and More program. This means you’ll earn miles flying on Luxair, redeemable on Lufthansa and codeshare flights. For this business class flight you’ll earn 2,000 Miles & More each way. Economy class would earn you 1,250 miles. My only complaint here is that you don’t have the option to add any other Star Alliance Membership Numbers, just Lufthansa. Ideally I would have wanted to earn Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles as that’s the Star Alliance airline I have the most points with. Alas, I had to make do with Lufthansa miles.
The Price
I was travelling to Luxembourg on a work trip so didn’t actually pay for the flight. Looking online though I can more or less estimate the price that was paid, and frankly it’s eye-wateringly expensive for a 1 hour return flight. EUR 837.94 (£720) using the exact same flights I flew. Maybe it would be excusable if you had a lay flat seat, but the Luxair Business Class seat is identical to the Economy seat. And that’s not a good seat either.
For comparison, British Airways, who fly from Heathrow, cost about £310 for a non-flexible business ticket, or £950 for a flexible business ticket. So I guess it depends on whether you’re buying a flexible ticket or not. Luxair’s Business tickets are all flexible, so in that respect the price is slightly more reasonable.
It’s also worth noting that almost everyone on the plane seemed to be flying for business travel, so I doubt very many of them were paying themselves. I still think the price is super high, but people are clearly willing to pay it so Luxair are just cashing in on that.
London City Airport
There are a few things that make London City Airport (LCY) pretty unique compared to most other airports in the world. Firstly the short 1,500m runway, surrounding water and tall buildings mean aircraft need to be able to operate a steep 5.5 degree landing and be capable of short takeoffs/landings. That means pilots need special certification to fly here. And aircraft need to be certified and tested before they’re allowed to operate here. The largest aircraft allowed at LCY is the Airbus A318, though most commonly you’ll see the Embraer E190, ATR 72, Dash 8 and Airbus A220-100.
Serving almost 5 million passengers a year it is surprisingly busy considering its tiny runway and footprint. The limited space also means the airport terminal is on the cramped side. In many places it feels more like a shed than an airport, and you’ll have to use stairs to board every flight, no jet bridges here. Again, due to the small size, there’s basically nothing to do inside the terminal. With just a few cafes and small shops and limited seating available. There’s not even a lounge here. Luckily, security is very efficient so you should be safe arriving an hour or so before your flight to avoid waiting for too long.
The Plane & Seat
The Dash 8 has just 76 seats in a 2-2 seating configuration. I was in seat 5D for this flight. The small size of the aircraft also has a few downsides. Lack of room in the cabin being one. But also compared to a typical jet like the Airbus A320, the Dash 8 flies low and slow. With a cruising altitude of around 25,000ft and cruise speed of 300 kn+ it takes longer to travel. That’s why it’s only popular on short regional routes like the one I’m flying today.
The Luxair Business Class seat on this flight was pretty shabby to be honest. The leather was worn with quite a few scratches. The end of the armrest kept coming loose. The floor was in dire need of a hoover and deep clean. For a 7 year old aircraft it did seem slightly less well maintained than expected.
The seat itself is also rather uncomfortable, largely due to how small the plane is. There isn’t much headroom so it’s extremely easy to hit your head standing up if your not careful. Legroom is also rather limited. Though the leather is quite soft so it’s relatively comfortable to sit on.
Like many European airlines, the Business seat is exactly the same as the Economy seat too. The only distintion is that in Business there will never be someone sitting next to you so you get two seats to yourself. That’s pretty nice on a plane with a 2-2 configuration and helps a little bit in making up for the lack of space. I’ve flown in economy on this plane too and it feels pretty cramped sitting next to someone.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Dash 8 / Q400 is much louder than your typical jet airliners. This is especially noticeable on takeoff when the noise is almost deafening. Not a dealbreaker, but it is just another part of the Luxair experience that makes it slightly less comfortable.
Overall, I wasn’t very impressed by the quality of the business seat, plane or way the maintain it.
Overhead space is, unsurprisingly pretty limited too. I was using a 33l backpack and it was a struggle to squeeze it in. Another benefit of business class though is that the overhead bins are very unlikely to run out of space since half the seats are empty.
Food
Probably the best thing about Luxair Business Class is the meal service. Menus are handed out after boarding. Though I’m not sure why they bother with a menu as there isn’t any choice (apart from drinks). You just get what you’re given.
I was especially grateful today as this was an early morning flight so I hadn’t had a chance to eat breakfast yet. Overall it was quite good. The fruit was fresh and the granola was nice. They even presented the butter to look like a rose. The main dish was a strange combination of roast chicken, boiled carrots, a pickle, cream cheese and brie (all cold). Not quite sure where the inspiration for that came from but it was tasty. Finally there were 2 slices of rye bread, a white bread roll and a chocolate croissant. The croissant was the biggest disappointment, not particularly fresh. You could also tell everything had been chilled for a few hours (all food is prepared in Luxembourg). But a filling meal nonetheless and I ate all of it.
After the main meal was cleared away a small box with two chocolate truffles were served. One caramel and one plain milk chocolate. Finally before landing the purser passed through the whole cabin (including economy) handing out boiled sweets. This is a really nice gesture and somewhat necessary on these types of planes. For whatever reason my ears always pop on descent in the Q400. It doesn’t happen on any other type of airlines I’ve flown on, just the Q400. But sucking on a hard sweet helps somewhat to alleviate that popping.
For comparison, this is the sort of thing you’ll get in Economy. Obviously it’s a downgrade from the full breakfast I had today. But still better than many European airlines which either don’t provide any snack or might just give you a packet of crisps. On morning flights Luxair will usually give you a croissant in Economy, whilst afternoon flights will be something like a muffin or canelé.
Service
There are two flight attendants on board Luxair’s Q400. The purser and an assistant. Both seemed friendly enough and the purser looked after the Business cabin. There’s a maximum of 10 passengers in the business cabin so the purser was able to provide a good level of service.
It was a very short flight so I don’t really have much to add besides that the service was good. And the purser got me a 2nd coffee when I asked for one, so no complaints from me.
Final Thoughts
Overall I have to admit there is quite a lot wrong with the Luxair Business Class offering. It’s pretty expensive, the seat is uncomfortable and the plane feels a bit shabby. Despite that though I do still quite like it. Personally I enjoy flying on smaller turboprop aircraft (though it may not be for everyone). Also the food was good and the entire flight was extremely efficient.
I didn’t have to pay for this flight as it was a work trip, so that might have clouded my judgement. But whilst I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Luxair’s Business Class, I would also say it’s worth it if you get a great deal. And it’s also just an interesting airline to fly on.
More from me…
Please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- Malaysia Airlines Economy A350-900 – Great food on a 13 hour flight
- Singapore Airlines Fantastic Regional Business – Saigon to Singapore on a 787-10
- Singapore Airlines Economy from London to Singapore – As Good as People Say?
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- The Platinum Card – You Receive 50,000 Membership Reward points after spending £6,000 in the first 6 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGgRA5?CPID=100493012
- British Airways Card: You Receive 8,000 Avios after spending £1,000 in the first 3 months: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEG42lN?CPID=100503089