Why did Lufthansa leave the last row of its A320neos empty?

Lufthansa stopped selling the last row of seats on its Airbus A320neo aircraft to address the plane's center-of-gravity (CG) limitations. The airline told its pilots in an internal memo that it was an ad hoc measure to comply with regulatory requirements. Behind it was an EASA airworthiness directive issued on 31 July 2019, which imposed temporary revisions to the A320neo flight manual to limit the center-of-gravity envelope.

Analysis and laboratory testing of the A320neo's flight control law behavior identified reduced effectiveness of the angle-of-attack protection when the aircraft is in certain flight configurations combined with specific maneuvers commanded by the crew. That condition, which had never been encountered in operation, could lead, if not corrected, to an excessive nose-up attitude and a possible increase in crew workload.

Lufthansa blocked the last row of seats on all 20 A320neos in its fleet. Starting on 12 September, row 32 stopped being assigned to passengers, even staff traveling on ID tickets. The airline stopped selling that rear row in response to the EASA directive.