In the past couple of years, Lufthansa sure has made a 180 when it comes to its Airbus A380 plans. A while back, the airline revealed that it would introduce a new business class product on its Airbus A380s, and we now have a sense of what that product may be.
In this post:
Lufthansa sees long term future for A380s
At the beginning of the pandemic, Lufthansa grounded its fleet of Airbus A380s, and the intent was that these planes would be retired, and would only reenter service “in the event of an unexpectedly rapid market recovery.”
With the strong recovery we’ve seen in transatlantic leisure demand, the airline made the decision to start bringing back Airbus A380s as of the summer of 2023. The plan is for the company to bring back all eight A380s that it still owns by 2025 (there were initially 14, but six of them have been sold), meaning we can expect to see these jets on an increasing number of routes.
At first, the return of the A380s was mostly described as a temporary measure, in light of delayed Boeing 777-9 deliveries. The airline didn’t commit to keeping these planes around in the long run, though that changed over time.
In September 2023, Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr outlined how the A380s have a long term home in the Lufthansa fleet. While he hasn’t committed to an exact timeline for how long they’ll stick around, he said that the super jumbos “will be flying again for longer than we thought a year ago.”
The most telling part of this plan is how the airline intends to invest in these planes…
Lufthansa plans new business class for A380s
Lufthansa has confirmed plans to introduce a new business class product on Airbus A380s as of the second half of 2025. Rather interestingly, it’s only business class that’s getting new cabins, while first class, premium economy, and economy, will remain the same, aside from some minor upgrades (like improved inflight entertainment).
Lufthansa management has claimed that the A380s have been proving very reliable for long haul flights, and that many passengers specifically book the A380 for comfort.
As many of you are probably aware, Lufthansa is in the process of introducing its new Allegris cabins, but that hasn’t exactly happened so smoothly:
- Lufthansa’s new business class, which was first announced in 2017, will be introduced as of May 2024
- Lufthansa’s new first class is now expected to be introduced in the fall of 2024, due to supply chain delays; these A350-900s are initially entering service with the area of the first class cabin empty
That’s where this gets interesting — Lufthansa’s plan is not to install Allegris seats on its Airbus A380s, but rather to install a whole different new business class product. This decision is due to delays with the Allegris seats. We know that Lufthansa plans to pick a “generic” seat that’s available with a bit less lead time and design required. So, which seat will Lufthansa select?
According to aero.de, Lufthansa intends to introduce Thompson Aero Vantage XL seats, similar to what you’ll find on the carrier’s small Airbus A350 fleet that was inherited from Philippine Airlines.
This makes sense, given that this is an “off the shelf” product, and on top of that, it has already been certified on the A380, and is offered on airlines like Qantas.
Previously there had been talk of Lufthansa selecting the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat for its A380s, similar to what you’ll find on the carrier’s small Boeing 787 fleet that was inherited from Hainan Airlines. This has also been certified on the A380, and is offered on airlines like Qatar Airways.
Lufthansa also has plans to reconfigure some other existing planes, including the Boeing 747-8. The carrier’s 747-8 plans are bizarre, as Lufthansa intends to introduce the new Allegris business class product on the lower deck, but keep the old business class product on the upper deck.
Bottom line
Lufthansa plans to keep its Airbus A380s around for years to come, and the plan is to introduce a new business class product on these aircraft. That should be installed on these planes as of the second half of 2025.
It’s believed that Lufthansa will introduce the Thompson Aero Vantage XL seat, though previously I had heard rumors that Lufthansa may select the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat. I think it’s safe to assume that it’ll be one of those two products.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s plans for a new A380 business class?
Thanks for the article. The seats on A380 at a first glance seem better then Allegris. So good to know, when choosing the aircraft type :-)
On Executive Traveller it said that LH 747 are getting the same Allegris products as on the a350, including on the upper deck
Lucky’s previous report said that LH would use the old seat upstairs on the 747 until they worked out a center of gravity issue caused by the heavier Allegris seats. Unless they’ve solved the problem, perhaps Jens Ritter should have told Executive Traveller that LH would have Allegris on both decks of the 747 - eventually. Perhaps in his lifetime.
I like the Thompson seats, but gee, Lufthansa's product consistency is an absolute mess. And they're still flying A340s? Lol!
The best sleeping value? Giving up on Lufti and flying Air France in future.
While LH's consistency is a mess, the airline is still on my radar to fly with because of the variety of aircraft they fly. As a younger avgeek who hasn't flown the A340 yet, I'm looking forward to flying one on Lufthansa or Swiss.
Lufthansa is now one of the few airlines in the world where you can fly almost every widebody aircraft type in service (they just need the 777X). Korean Air and Qatar also come to mind.
"Lufthansa is now one of the few airlines in the world where you can fly almost every widebody aircraft type in service (they just need the 777X). Korean Air and Qatar also come to mind."
How? None of them operate the 767 nor A330neo. Qatar and Korean do not fly the A340. Qatar doesn't have commercial pax 747s.
What a disaster of a situation. Nothing irritates people more than product surprises especially if they experience Allegris and then end up upstairs on a 748 LOL.
If we were to award LH one star for each (attempt to install a) new J seat, the sky will be lit up, full of stars, in the evenings of Skytrax.
Soon we will get Lufthansa top 7 business class configurations pieces, this is a hot mess.
So true
@lucky could it maybe be interesting with a post ranking business class beds, e.g. what airlines offer mattress pads, privacy when sleeping etc.
Especially given all the different offerings on transatlantic routes, which will give the best sleeping value?
Would you cover seat certifications in more detail in another post? I've been a massive avgeek for the last 10 years and I feel like I've only just now heard about having to get a certain seat certified on an aircraft type...
No need to wait for a post, as it's fairly straightforward. Anything that becomes a fixture in a commercial aircraft, needs to have its inclusion certified: from the seat type, configuration, and materials, to the carpet, to the insulation, to the wiring sheaths, and so forth. That's more or less the whole explanation.
Not sure why your headline is repeating a Lufthansa claim as fact. History shows this airline's timelines exist on quicksand and breathlessly repeating their PR spin as facts impugn your credibility, Ben.
Asking Ben to verify claims and report factually accurate content is a lot. He'd rather put out copy and paste cookie cutter content for filler.
Just sit back and enjoy his unbiased, self-funded first class trip reviews because he will never get any better at this.
It wouldn't be asking for much for the headline to reflect reality. Something like: "Lufthansa CLAIMS A380s Will Get New Business Class in 2025".
After all, we know Lufthansa's announcements are a joke.
For someone with yolo in your handle, you sure do waste a lot of your life complaining about trivial stuff.
It’s perfectly reasonable to report on airline announcements. He mentions the ongoing delays in the article as well. What would you rather he do? Ignore Lufthansa announcements? Or say “Lufthansa says this, but I personally guarantee it will not happen”?
THIS might have been the single BEST News on the press day of the A350 recently!
.... otherwise, this airline is SOOOO far behind, it's not even funny anymore!
Except for there huge route network, it would fall even further behind compared to other European carriers.
I almost get, once the Collins Vantage Aero XL seats have been installed in LH's Business Class, people might NOT want to wait years till that...
THIS might have been the single BEST News on the press day of the A350 recently!
.... otherwise, this airline is SOOOO far behind, it's not even funny anymore!
Except for there huge route network, it would fall even further behind compared to other European carriers.
I almost get, once the Collins Vantage Aero XL seats have been installed in LH's Business Class, people might NOT want to wait years till that overrated Allegris is finally installed as it should have been,6 years ago. ;-)
Those who love to fly A380 might then even plan via MUC instead of going on a BOEING plane!
I would too!