A little over a year ago, we saw Qatar Airways introduce caviar in business class on select routes. Following that, Thai Airways also introduced caviar in business class on flights to Europe.
Well, we can now add a third airline to the list, and it’s not the carrier you’d probably expect. Let me start with a bit of background, and then we’ll talk about the (surprisingly) amazing soft product… or so it’s claimed.
In this post:
Luxair’s intriguing Luxembourg to Dubai flight
Luxair is the flag carrier of Luxembourg, with a fleet of roughly 20 aircraft. While the airline primarily operates flights within Europe, the airline does operate one winter seasonal long haul(ish) route, between Luxembourg (LUX) and Dubai World Central (DWC).
The service operates twice weekly, with the following schedule:
LG9009 Luxembourg to Dubai departing 7:25AM arriving 5:45PM
LG9010 Dubai to Luxembourg departing 9:15AM arriving 2:15PM
The 3,117-mile route is blocked at 7hr20min eastbound and 8hr westbound.
While Luxair has the typical intra-Europe business class product on most of its aircraft, the airline has a single Boeing 737 MAX 8 (registration code LX-LBL) that has 168 seats, including 12 business class seats and 156 economy class seats. So the airline has proper recliners in business class on this flight (a little better than domestic first class in the United States), which you’d hope, given the length of this flight.
Luxair’s shocking business class soft product
My assumption was that Luxair’s soft product on the Luxembourg to Dubai route is nothing special. However, apparently that’s not the case? Luxair highlights how it has an exclusive menu “crafted by Michelin-starred Chef Benoît Potdevin” (I put that in quotes because there are no Michelin-starred chefs, just Michelin-starred restaurants, but that doesn’t stop people from making that claim *gets off soapbox*).
Here’s how the airline describes the catering on this flight:
Every journey deserves to be memorable, including the moments spent on board. For Luxair’s Dubai route this winter, Michelin-starred Chef Benoît Potdevin of Le K at Domaine de la Klauss in Montenach (Lorraine) has created an exclusive Business Class menu that takes in-flight dining to new heights.
Each ingredient lies at the heart of his creations, enhanced by subtle spices, refined sauces, and delicate jus that unite every dish in a surprising and elegant way. To complement the experience, every course is paired with premium wines carefully selected to elevate the flavours — from a floral and elegant Luxembourgish Auxerrois and a mineral Chablis Premier Cru to the silky depth of a Gevrey-Chambertin or the rich intensity of a Brunello di Montalcino.
This unique collaboration allows passengers to indulge in cuisine crafted by a Michelin-starred chef, accompanied by exquisite wine pairings, turning every flight to Dubai into a culinary journey to remember
For example, the starter on this flight reportedly consists of fresh crab claws and legs marinated with kalamansi vinegar, paired with fennel cream and Kristal caviar from Kaviari.
Meanwhile there are a couple of main course options. This includes a slow-cooked veal tenderloin with fresh truffle, served with truffle-scented potato terrine and veal jus. As a vegetarian alternative, there’s creamy “célerisotto” with young spinach shoots, crisp vegetables, fresh truffle shavings, and spinach oil.
Luxair even uploaded the following content to Instagram, showing the inaugural flight of the season, which the chef personally took, to serve customers.
I’m curious, given the early morning departure from Luxembourg, do we assume the airline serves a light breakfast after takeoff and then the main meal before landing? I can’t imagine they’re serving caviar and veal at 8AM, right?
I’ve gotta say, I’m mighty intrigued by this. I’ve been wanting to visit Luxembourg, and this flight is definitely on my radar, as this seems like a unique service. I’d also be curious what the arrivals experience is like at Dubai World Central (I’ve only traveled through there on Beond Airlines, but that was just a refueling stop).
Bottom line
Luxair operates an interesting seasonal flight between Luxembourg and Dubai. The flight is operated by a Boeing 737 MAX with a special configuration, intended to reflect that this isn’t just a short intra-Europe journey.
What’s most interesting — and what I wasn’t aware of — is that the airline seems to put a lot of effort into the business class soft product, partnering with a well respected chef, and even having a caviar course. This is a product I’ve gotta try!
Anyone else intrigued by Luxair’s business class service on the Dubai flight?
I would assume pricing on this route is reasonably aggresive as I would otherwise just take an Emirates flight from BRU or FRA. Not only is the larger plane more comfortable, it's also faster, and would make up most of the time taken getting to the airport by getting you to Dubai faster! The 7+hour blocked time is really long given a flight from manchester is blocked at 7 hours and you pass Luxemborg over an hour into that flight!
Luxembourg, with 672,000 residents, has had the world's largest GDP per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity, among countries with populations over 50,000 for several decades until Singapore edged it out in two of the three sources only recently. For comparison, the USA is 9th or 10th and sinking (it is below Guyana in two of the three rankings). Luxembourg has no oil or gas production, its coal and steel are moribund, and it achieves...
Luxembourg, with 672,000 residents, has had the world's largest GDP per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity, among countries with populations over 50,000 for several decades until Singapore edged it out in two of the three sources only recently. For comparison, the USA is 9th or 10th and sinking (it is below Guyana in two of the three rankings). Luxembourg has no oil or gas production, its coal and steel are moribund, and it achieves its wealth largely on trade, financial services and being among the EU's top incorporation and tax havens.
Luxembourg (city) competes with Lyon, France for the most restaurant seats per capita in the world. Cuisine is important there.
Luxair has operated Boeing 737s since the -200 series. Back in the late 1990s, when the rest of its fleet consisted of De Havilland Canada Dash-8 turboprops, it had two 737s, named after the then-princesses. Since then, its network from Luxembourg International Airport (FINDEL) has expanded dramatically, largely by adding leisure destinations to its preexisting business-oriented routemap. It now has 10 737s in service and will have 12 when current orders are delivered (most of which require certification of the MAX -7 and -10 variants) and the 8 NG aircraft are retired. Luxair also has replaced its ERJ-135 and -145 fleet with the more comfortable, longer-range E-195. So the question on what it does with its 737 when it's not operating DWC flights is inappropriate.
Luxair operated wet-lease widebody (MD-11) flights to New York for a while in the late 1990s. In the 1970s and 1980s, one of Icelandair's three predecessor airlines ran New York/JFK-KEF-LUX one-stop direct same-aircraft flights. So the concept of LUX-DWC is not as farfetched as it might seem. The only problem is that DWC is most likely a final destination for most passengers, and is relatively far from the city of Dubai, unlike DXB.
Wtf is this ChatGPT nonsense
Yes there is a cold continental breakfast served after take off followed by the meal service as discribed. They serve Moet Chanfon Champagne and let’s say in a generous way…. I drank around 5 glasses on my last Dubai flight with them. Notice that the Chef wad only on board the first seasonal flight! Luxair has been flying to Dubai since 2021 always starting in October trough May.
I'm curious who is flying this and what LuxAir does with the plane the rest of the year. I wonder if this 737 is used by the grand duke and the government of Luxembourg?
Anyways, I suppose this shouldn't be a surprise given the fact that (1) Luxembourg is THE richest country per capita in Europe and (2) Luxembourg has THE highest or one of the highest number of Michelin restaurants per capita. In other words, it's a rich country that appreciates fine dining.
Luxembourg is the richest country per capita in the European Union but not in Europe as a whole or the EEA. Lichtenstein is the richest country per capita in Europe as a whole and the EEA. By head and shoulders. But, does lose on the restaurant side.
They fly many other rotations in Europe, shorter city hops but also longer trips like Turkey, Greek islands, Canary Islands or Azores
Wow, a European carrier operating narrow-body aircraft (737) with actual recliners in 2-2, as opposed to 3-3 regular economy seats with the middle blocked. (Yes, I am aware of La Compagnie, but they are different, and better, because they’re all lie-flat.) That’s more surprising to me than the caviar, honestly.
Seven hours and twenty minutes in THAT seats? No thanks.
Which? The recliners? Yeah, bud, we all prefer lie-flat over those. My point was most intra-European carriers (I know, this is further) do the 3-3 blocked-middle 'Business' class, and the recliners are unique for a narrow-body by a European airline. Sure, take AF, KL, BA, etc. on long-haul, wide-body, and they've all got lie-flat, for sure.
Luxair also has great catering on their European services, and redemptions via Miles and More can be quite the deal.
@ David -- Interesting, any clue how many miles for LUX-DWC? I don't have enough Miles & More miles to be able to search...
Should be 37,500 miles one way
You earn double miles per flight Luxair has a promotion