Lufthansa is in the process of introducing its new Allegris cabin concept, which includes an all-new first class and all-new business class. The new Allegris cabins debuted on newly delivered Airbus A350-900s, and we’re now also seeing them installed on newly delivered Boeing 787-9s (though those planes don’t have first class, and not all business class seats are usable yet… oy).
With the seats now available on two aircraft types, in this post I’d like to go over the next step in the Allegris project, as we should see the cabins installed on a third aircraft type soon… though perhaps with the strangest plan of all.
In this post:
Some Lufthansa planes won’t get Allegris cabins
For some background, at least officially, Lufthansa doesn’t have plans to introduce its new Allegris cabin concept on many of its existing aircraft:
- Lufthansa has brought back A340-600s temporarily due to the carrier’s aircraft shortage, but these planes will be retired again in 2026, and won’t get the new Allegris cabins
- Lufthansa has brought back eight A380s, which will be sticking around; these planes are expected to get a different new business class product, but they won’t get the new Allegris cabins
- Lufthansa A340-300s will be retired by 2027, while A330-300s have no specific retirement timeline as of now, but aren’t expected to stick around for that long; the A330-300s could very well go to other Lufthansa Group carriers, like Discover Airlines
- Lufthansa has only a small subfleet of 747-400s remaining, and they’re expected to be retired in 2026, so won’t be reconfigured
However, Lufthansa does plan to reconfigure existing A350-900s with the new Allegris cabins, and that’s a project that should start as of 2027.
How Lufthansa Boeing 747-8s will get Allegris seats
Lufthansa has plans to retrofit its Boeing 747-8 fleet with the new Allegris seats in all cabins. Lufthansa has 19 of these jets, and they’re an average of roughly 12 years old. While other airlines are largely retiring 747s, Lufthansa was one of the few airlines to order the updated 747-8, and the carrier is committed to keeping these planes around.
Lufthansa has plans to start reconfiguring its 747s in the coming months, either in very late 2025 or early 2026. However, the plan for updating these planes is anything but straightforward:
- Initially, Lufthansa plans to install its Allegris business class seats on the lower deck of the 747-8; there will be a total of 48 of these business class seats there, which is the same number of business class seats that you’ll currently find
- However, for the time being, the airline will maintain the old business class seats on the upper deck, so you’ll continue to find 32 business class seats there, in a 2-2 configuration
- On top of that, the bones of the first class cabin won’t be updated for the time being, and will remain in the nose
But that’s only step one of this project. Then at some point in 2027 or 2028, the airline plans to update first class and upper deck business class. The upper deck will eventually get the new Allegris business class seats, and on top of that, there will be (likely) three Allegris first class seats.
This is kind of a wild plan, no? I can’t think of another airline that has ever kept both an old and new business class product on a plane, and I’m really curious how Lufthansa will go about selling those cabins. Will there just be a surcharge for all lower deck Allegris seats, or will the airline somehow sell this as two totally different products? I suspect it’s the former, but I guess we’ll see…
Why Allegris is complicated on the Boeing 747-8
Why would Lufthansa reconfigure its Boeing 747-8s in a two-step process? The 747 can be a challenging plane for installing premium cabins, given the curvature of the nose, plus the narrower upper deck. This is kind of a recipe for disaster when combined with Lufthansa’s overly engineered Allegris concept.
Installing the Allegris business class seats on the lower deck is super easy, since the 747 lower deck cabin is even wider than the A350 or 787 cabin, so there’s room to spare.
The much more challenging thing is installing this on the upper deck, which is somewhere between a wide body and narrow body in terms of width, and you have a single aisle. I would have to imagine that Lufthansa’s plan is to simply install the Allegris seats on the upper deck in a 1-1 configuration. Essentially with the below seat map, just picture the cabin without the center section. This will no doubt represent a significant capacity reduction over what’s offered now.
I am a bit surprised to hear that Lufthansa only plans to introduce three Allegris first class seats on the 747-8, as I had previously heard that maybe there would be six. It seems like even with the challenging shape of the nose, you could do at least a couple more than that, no?
Will the size of the first class cabin somehow be reduced, with galley space moved forward, or something? Either way, it’ll be 2027 or 2028 before we deal with that. It’s going to be a significant capacity reduction, though, if we go from eight to three first class seats. So I guess for those of us who like to redeem points for Lufthansa first class, we should hope that this project is put off as long as possible.
Bottom line
Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8s will be getting the new Allegris cabins, which is exciting. The good news is that this project will start in the coming months.
The bad news is that this is a two-step process. Lufthansa will initially install Allegris business class seats on the lower deck. Then in 2027 or 2028, the airline will install Allegris business class on the upper deck, and Allegris first class in the nose (which is maybe also good news, since that will likely spell the end of redemptions in Lufthansa’s 747 first class).
As a Boeing 747 lover, I am very happy to see Lufthansa keeping the jet around in the long run. However, the plan for reconfiguring these planes has to be one of the strangest we’ve ever seen. I don’t think the industry has ever witnessed a new seating concept with as many logistical challenges as this one. The sad thing is that all of these issues could’ve been avoided. Oh well…
What do you make of Lufthansa’s plans to reconfigure Boeing 747-8s?
A complete masterclass on how to launch a new product/retrofit existing aircraft.
Ben, sorry if I'm wrong about this but there seems to be an image of a 787 with the caption "Lufthansa Boeing 747-8s are getting new cabins."
This seems like a retrofit strategy out of the Global Airlines playbook. With the length of time, the amount of money, the certification issues, and this retrofit approach makes me ask, “Does Lufthansa hate itself?” Put aside the overall strength of the brand and its generational stability. If you heard the Allegris storyline without any frame of reference and then heard this two-stage multi year retrofit plan for an airframe other airlines have abandoned you...
This seems like a retrofit strategy out of the Global Airlines playbook. With the length of time, the amount of money, the certification issues, and this retrofit approach makes me ask, “Does Lufthansa hate itself?” Put aside the overall strength of the brand and its generational stability. If you heard the Allegris storyline without any frame of reference and then heard this two-stage multi year retrofit plan for an airframe other airlines have abandoned you would think “Is this airline looking to sabotage itself?”
One is ever hopeful that by the time LH eventually get their act together and proceed to the upper deck, all seats will have individual isle access. The stupidity of the one-sided double seating is clear for even a blind man to comprehend.
LOLhansa!
Tripple-facepalm, for times when double isn't enough. LHG
Ben: The 2-part plan will only be valid for 3-4 aircraft. The rest will be refitted from the very beginning with the complete new product. This Information is partly wrong. Also unconfirmed that the 747-8 will only have 3 First Class seats.
That's what they call strategic management.
Finally some good news for this airline.
**crickets**