9 New First Class Products On The Horizon

Premium airline products have come a long way over the years, and they just keep getting better. While many airlines have chosen to eliminate international first class, other airlines continue to invest heavily in it, and we keep seeing impressive new products introduced.

For example, at the moment I’d say that the world’s two best first class experiences are Emirates’ 777 first class and Japan Airlines’ A350 first class, though I’m sure these will be outdone soon enough. While I keep a list of the world’s best first class airlines, in this post I thought it would be fun to take a look at the new first class products that are due to be introduced (I wrote a similar post about new business class products).

Let me share the ones that I’m aware of below, and I’ll do so in chronological order, of when they’re expected to be introduced (roughly, because these timelines are always subject to change). As you’ll see, in some cases these are products where we know the exact details, while in other cases little has been revealed.

New Lufthansa Allegris first class (A350)

Lufthansa plans to soon launch its Allegris first class and Allegris business class, which are the carrier’s new premium products. The new Lufthansa Allegris first class is expected to launch in the fall of 2024, after a significant delay. This will be installed on newly delivered Munich-based Airbus A350s.

The first class cabin consists of just a single row of seats, in a 1-1-1 configuration. What makes this product unique is that the center suite can accommodate two people, so the cabin capacity will be four people.

While Lufthansa plans to introduce a new business class product on its Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s, there’s no indication that they’ll get a new first class.

New Air France La Premiere first class (777)

Air France is expected to introduce a new La Premiere first class product, and it should debut within the next year, by early 2025. The plan is for this product to be installed on existing Boeing 777s with first class.

Details about this product remain fairly limited, though Air France is promising it will be “the longest cabin” on the market, that it will be fully private, and that it will feature a seat, a sofa, and a fully flat bed. I have high hopes that this could be the world’s best first class product, but only time will tell.

New Air India first class (A350 & 777)

Air India is in the process of reinventing itself, and as part of that, the airline is introducing a new first and business class product. This is expected to be installed on newly delivered Airbus A350s, and also reconfigured on existing Boeing 777s. The exact timeline remains to be seen, but we could see the first aircraft with these interiors in 2024 (though I think 2025 is more likely).

While Air India’s new business class is impressive, the new first class is quite underwhelming, by comparison. I’d almost consider it to be more of a business class “plus” product, as this is based on the Safran Unity seat.

New SWISS Senses first class (A350)

SWISS is introducing its own version of Lufthansa Allegris, which will be known as SWISS Senses. This includes a new first and business class product, which will be the same as Lufthansa’s, except with different finishes. We should first see this product on newly delivered Airbus A350s, though existing Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s are also expected to be reconfigured with these cabins.

New British Airways first class (A380)

British Airways is planning on retrofitting its Airbus A380s with new cabins, and the first reconfigured jet is expected to enter service in late 2025 or early 2026. British Airways plans to introduce an all-new first class suite on these planes, which will also eventually be installed on Boeing 777-9s.

We have no additional details right now, but it should be significantly better than the current A380 first class, and also better than British Airways’ current “new” 777 first class.

New Qantas first class (A350)

In early 2026, Qantas plans to launch Project Sunrise flights, whereby the airline will fly nonstop from Sydney and Melbourne to New York and London, which will be the world’s longest flights. The airline will be introducing a new passenger experience on these aircraft, which will include a new first class cabin.

First class will consist of six seats, spread across two rows, in a 1-1-1 configuration. Each first class suite will feature both a seat and a bed, so it will be quite different than the carrier’s existing A380 first class.

New Qatar Airways first class (777-9)

While Qatar Airways had been planning on eliminating first class, the company has backtracked under new management, and now plans to maintain this product in the long run. Details are very limited as of now as to what Qatar Airways’ first class plans are.

However, my assumption is that Qatar Airways will introduce first class on its Boeing 777-9s, of which the airline has 50 on order. This is Boeing’s much delayed new aircraft — it’s currently expected to enter service in 2025, though given Boeing’s problems, who knows. I trust that Qatar Airways will come up with something impressive here, much better than the carrier’s current A380 first class.

New Singapore Airlines first class (777-9)

Singapore Airlines is expected to introduce a new passenger experience on its Boeing 777-9s, of which the airline has 31 on order. These planes were initially supposed to be delivered in 2020, but have now been delayed until at least 2025.

We know nothing about the new first class that Singapore Airlines will introduce on this plane, though I expect that it’s going to be really impressive. It should be way better than the current 777 first class, and probably better than the current A380 Suites product.

New Cathay Pacific Halo Suites first class (777-9)

Cathay Pacific will soon be introducing its new Aria Suites business class on existing Boeing 777-300ERs. However, the airline is waiting for its Boeing 777-9s to introduce a new first class product, and we have reason to believe that this will be named Halo Suites.

Cathay Pacific has been tight-lipped about what we can expect from the carrier’s new first class, though we do have some clues based on patents that have been filed, and it’s darn impressive, way better than the current 777 first class.

The challenge is that we’ll see when Cathay Pacific actually takes delivery of its first Boeing 777-9, both because the plane is delayed in general, and also because Cathay Pacific isn’t among the launch customers for the aircraft.

Bottom line

There are some impressive new first class products on the horizon. In some cases, we already know the details of what we can expect, while in other cases we know absolutely nothing. Regardless, there are some very exciting products in the pipeline.

As you can see, several airlines have been delayed with introducing new cabins due to certification delays with the Boeing 777-9, which have changed their fleet planning. Hopefully the 777-9 does in fact get certified and enter service in 2025, or else we’ll be waiting even longer for these products.

The last thing that I should mention is that while all of these products look and sound awesome, they’re probably not great in terms of award availability, as we see a general trend to smaller first class cabins.

Which new first class product are you most excited about?