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).
Lufthansa has now started the process of installing Allegris seats on a third aircraft type, and the first plane should enter service in the coming months. We now have more details as to what this project will look like, and it’s a bizarre two-part plan.
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 started the project of reconfiguring 747s. The first of these planes with the registration code D-ABYA is now undergoing a cabin retrofit in Xiamen, China (XMN). The plane has been there since November 14, 2025, and the expectation is that this project will take until at least February 2026 (it’s common for the first plane to take a little longer to be reconfigured). Here’s what we can expect:
- 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 the cabin 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 updates to first class, but it might not actually be the standard Allegris first class product.
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. My understanding is that Lufthansa will make the upper deck seats the standard ones when booking business class, while the lower deck Allegris seats will be bookable for a surcharge of around €300 per segment. However, with 60% of the seats being Allegris, I have to imagine that many people will be “upgraded” to the lower deck at no cost
aeroLOPA has seemingly gotten its hands on the new cabin layout, and has published the new seat map here. With the first round of the plane being reconfigured, we’ll see overall capacity decrease from 364 seats to 348 seats. First class will maintain eight seats, business class will maintain 80 seats (with a slightly larger footprint), premium economy will increase from 32 seats to 40 seats, and economy will decrease from 244 seats to 220 seats.
One thing that’s interesting is that the Allegris layout on the 747 will actually be different than on other aircraft types, given the wider fuselage on the lower deck. Instead of there being seven (or whatever) different seating types, the layout will alternate every other row. As a matter of fact, the layout looks very similar to United Polaris business class.
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 (which is why the airline is choosing a more logical layout than on other planes for that).
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.
During the second phase of the cabin retrofit, Lufthansa reportedly plans to install six new first class seats in the nose of the 747. However, this is once again expected to be a modified product, so it won’t be the standard Allegris first class.
Either way, it’ll be 2027 or 2028 before we see how that plays out…
Bottom line
Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8s will be getting the new Allegris cabins, which is exciting. The good news is that this project is underway, and the first plane is currently being reconfigured.
The bad news is that this is a two-step process. Lufthansa is initially installing 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 some sort of a new first class product in the nose.
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?
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