For a couple of years now, we’ve known that Lufthansa plans to introduce new business class cabins on its Airbus A380s. While this project was first supposed to start in 2025, that timeline was ultimately delayed.
In January 2026, the airline formally announced when these planes would be retrofitted. There’s now an update, as the first plane with the new interiors is entering service as of today, marking a new chapter for Lufthansa’s biggest plane.
In this post:
All Lufthansa A380s will get new business class by mid-2027
Lufthansa is introducing a new business class product on its entire fleet of eight Airbus A380s. Rather interestingly, it’s only business class that’s getting new seats, while first class, premium economy, and economy, remain the same, aside from some minor upgrades (like improved inflight entertainment).
So, when are these planes getting new cabins? The Airbus A380 with the registration code D-AIMC has just entered service as of today, sporting the new interiors. The second A380 to get the new cabins has the registration code D-AIMH, and that plane just went into the “shop” on April 21, 2026, so expect it’ll be several weeks before that aircraft is in service.
This cabin retrofit project is taking place in Dresden (DRS), and the plan is for all A380s to be reconfigured by mid-2027. The first A380 with the new interiors is being rotated throughout the network, and will fly select frequencies from Munich (MUC) to Boston (BOS), Delhi (DEL), Los Angeles (LAX), Mumbai (BOM), and Washington (IAD), on alternating days.
What’s interesting is that Lufthansa isn’t introducing its new Allegris business class on these planes, but instead, is introducing another “off the shelf” product. Specifically, the airline has opted for the Thompson Aero Vantage XL product, which is in a staggered configuration.
Each seat has direct aisle access, seat width of 58cm, and a bed length of at least two meters. Seats feature bluetooth connectivity and flexible partitions. Lufthansa is calling this “Premium XXL,” which… I’m not sure if that’s supposed to describe the seat, or if Lufthansa is taking some liberties on a new Grindr profile, somehow turning Vantage XL into Premium XXL.
As A380s are reconfigured, the business class cabin is shrinking in size by 10 seats, going from 78 seats to 68 seats. First class continues to have eight seats, premium economy continues to have 52 seats, and economy continues to have 371 seats.
It’s pretty cool to note how Lufthansa has reversed course on the A380. 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, and eight of the initial 14 are now back in service (six of them were sold). 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 recent years it has become clear that the A380 will have a long term place in Lufthansa’s fleet. Clearly this investment in the business class product reflects that.
Why are Lufthansa A380s not getting new Allegris cabins?
Lufthansa of course has its new Allegris cabins, including the new Allegris business class and new Allegris first class. These cabins debuted on newly delivered Airbus A350-900s, and we’re also seeing them on newly delivered Boeing 787-9s (though without first class).
So why is Lufthansa not installing its new Allegris seats on the A380s? Well, I’d assume it comes down to a couple of factors. The biggest reason is quite straightforward — Lufthansa has had a really tough time getting its new Allegris seats certified, and these seats need to be certified on each individual aircraft. The idea is that by picking an “off the shelf” product, these seats are already certified, and therefore the airline can actually rely on getting them into service ASAP.
Second of all, I imagine that given the narrower fuselage of the A380 upper deck, it might’ve required even more complicated customization to fit the new Allegris seats up there.
For once, I’d say Lufthansa made a wise decision by just picking a generic product for its A380s. I think the big mystery is why Lufthansa just didn’t do this for its other planes, to avoid this entire mess. Separately, Lufthansa is reconfiguring its Boeing 747-8s, in a complicated two-part process. Initially, we’ll see the new Allegris business class seats on the lower deck, while the same business class seats will remain on the upper deck.
Bottom line
Lufthansa has started the process of introducing a new business class product on its Airbus A380s. The first plane with these cabins is now flying, with all eight super jumbos expected to be in service by the middle of 2027.
Rather than installing the new Allegris business class seats, the airline is instead installing a more generic product, the Thompson Aero Vantage XL seat, which is a significant improvement over the product you’ll otherwise find on these jets. As planes are reconfigured, business class capacity is being reduced by 10 seats, from 78 to 68.
Lufthansa sure is all over the place when it comes to modernizing its cabins. Either way, this change is good to see.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s new A380 business class plans?
Lufthansa's A380 are now seeing a 3rd type of business class.
1st type was the one they were introduced in the fleet with which was an outdated product in 2-2-2
2nd type is the current one which is being replaced.
3rd type is this new one which is much better.
When airlines were introducing their A380s with state of the art products back in 2007-2012, Lufthansa, Air France and British Airways introduced...
Lufthansa's A380 are now seeing a 3rd type of business class.
1st type was the one they were introduced in the fleet with which was an outdated product in 2-2-2
2nd type is the current one which is being replaced.
3rd type is this new one which is much better.
When airlines were introducing their A380s with state of the art products back in 2007-2012, Lufthansa, Air France and British Airways introduced their A380s with the most outdated seats at that time. Air France retired all their A380s earlier. BA is still flying them with those outdated business class seats which will be replaced soon.
But Lufthansa missed the opportunity to go 4 abreast when they reconfigured their A380s with the current 6-abreast business class seats. At that time their CEO (not sure whether it was Franz or Spohr) was asked why he did not choose a product which was 4 abreast and he responded that "Germans enjoy/like talking to each other while flying and that they like seating next to someone".
That was a dumb excuse to not go 4-abreast earlier. It seems that Germans no longer like to talk to each other while flying.
In pictures, it looks so much more spacious than Allegris. I would be perfectly happy with this product. In a perfect world, LX would scrap the seats for the 330 refurbishment and install these seats. Install a generic 4-seat first class as well...
Mic drop w/ that comment Cedric.
Could not agree more.
Luftcaca strikes again.
Imagine if they had just installed this on their entire fleet this whole time, skipped the messy certification delays and they would have a viable product in their entire fleet. Now they have a confused mess with multiple seat configurations across different aircraft and an Allegris seat product that is roughly only average in 2026.
If Lufthansa wants to keep their new cabins smelling nice, they should avoid flying these aircraft to India at all costs.
Your Indian boss must have been mean to you at work of late :)
Your Indian boss must have been mean to you at work of late :)
Simple, nice, elegant. I'd like to try both, but I may actually prefer this to the craziness with Allegris. Bah!
100% concurrence
Not installing Allegris is the best decision LH has made in a long time. When does Spohr get canned over the mess the airline is in?
I wonder how much LH pays to the person (people) who comes up with all these incomprehensible names/acronyms (ie., FOX, XXL, and those to come in the future).
These seat will be available for use in 2032. When all of the strikes are over and flying restarts.
Is this the same seat SAS has in their a330s? To be installing this in 2026 is ... unfortunate
Unrelated question - which seat did Egyptair install in their a350s? Same seat as their 787?
As a German who grew up in a country which was once innovative, but which now has the strong tendency to overthink and overdo things (Allegris anyone), I’m already happy if they do just something :D
Yes, it was an innovative country once upon a time. But not in the last 20 years. It’s a complete s*hitshow now. The economy, society, politics, businesses everything in the dump.
A-380 is a grandiose box to carry more and more pax , and charge more and more money .
The pax likely don't use mouthwash , and the FAs likely don't wash their hands before handing you a drink by the rim .
Is that you ORD_IS_MY_SECOND...?
Honey.....who hurt you ?
Aaaaand then there’s BA with 0 retrofitted A380s two years after announcing their retrofit
BA are upgrading every seat in their A380s, not merely 20% like LH.
I'd rather go in an ancient deboardable 707 , than a crowded and impossible to deboard 380 .
Clearly A-Lert, you have never saved enough pennies in your piggy bank to be able to afford an F Cabin seat, in a World Class Airline. The jealousy in your rhetoric speaks volumes about your cattle class travel aspirations …. Yes?
Don’t knock it until you have tried it darlink …. :-)
I thought I was your darlink… >:-(
Nothing revolutionary, but definitely an improvement for business class passengers on LH’s A380.
Plus, the ratio of bathrooms to business class passengers improved slightly as well.