There are two Airbus 319s operated by Privatair on behalf of Lufthansa. They only fly on the nonstop routes between Düsseldorf and Newark as well as Düsseldorf and Chicago. There are 48 Business Class seats on board, but no First or Economy Classes. Some people like this exclusive business jet atmosphere. Most passenegrs dislike these flights for several reasons though. First of all, the seats are by far not as comfortable as those on other aircaft. There is no way for you to get out of the window seat without disturbing the person in the aisle seat, since they are pretty tight. Also, you cannot store bags, not even your shoes under the seat in front of you, because when you push the "recline" button, your seat actually moves forward and takes up all the space. Stuff that you may have put there will get squashed since the seats are moved by some pretty strong motors. More...
There is no entertainment system on board. You will not be able to follow the status of your flight on an airshow map. Also, there is no audio system. You will receive a portable tape player during the flight which you can use to watch a variety of movies on Hi8 tapes (the sound is really bad - you can hardly understand anything sometimes!!!). If you ask for "radio", you will receive another tape with music on it. In all cases you have to use the portable player. This is extremely annoying, because you will not receive a battery, but a power adapter, so you will have yards and yards of cords lying on yourt lap. Also, you have to keep your table down all the time or balance the thing on your lap. Either way, it makes moving difficult. You will have to move though, because the leather seats are so slippery that you will constantly slide down if you have your seat in a reclined position. If you want to sleep, you can try to use the headphones that are supposed to be noise reduction headsets, but they don't help a lot. If you are used to the good ones on United, you will think that these ones don't work at all. More ...
Positive aspects are the fairly roomy cabin and 220V power outlets that you can use with your normal computer power adapter, rather than special adapters. However, this will only work if you hav a two prong EURO-plug on your cord. These plugs are by now standard for laptops in western europe, but if you are using a bigger plug (like a german SchuKo) or another system, such as an American plug, you will need yet another adapter. There are no adapters provided on board.
All in all, flying on this aircraft is not woth the outrageous price that Lufthansa charges for it and certainly you shouldn't transfer in Düsseldorf just to get this plane. When going to Chicago, you'll be much better off on a United aircraft out of Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam or London. Only if Düsseldorf is your final destination (or your home town), this flight might be advantageous. But note: The 319 needs about one additional hour for the flight to Chicago (10hrs vs. 9hrs on other aircraft).
Row one has the great advantage that there is nobody in front of you, so you get plenty of room.
Row 5
Row 5 has two disadvantages. First, the windows are further apart here, so you don't have a panoramic view. You still have a window to look out of, but it is a little darker here. Secondly, these seats have a reduced pitch due to the exit row behind. They do have a full recline, but getting in and out during the flight might be a little difficult. Try to avoid them if you can.
Row 6 has a little extra legroom, but it is barely noticeable.
Row 12 is a little too close to the lavatories. It has a full recline and average legroom, but it can be a little noisy.
These are average Business Class seats with all the advantages and disadvantages mentioned in the aircraft description.