Although Lufthansa is one of the largest and most importante airlines in Europe there is little doubt that their business class is lagging behind the competition. The airline is lacking a truly premium product that can put it up to par with the likes of Qatar Airways, Air France, Singapore Airlines and so on. Still most of LH flights operate with passengers in business class seated on a not so premium feeling cabin fitted with seats in a 2-2-2 layout. The only exception to this are the Boeing 787s. This is an issue which has for sure held back Lufthansa in a world which is focusing more and more on exclusivity and privacy in the business class cabin. This might soon change though as the airline deploys its first aircraft featuring the all new Allegris cabins.
First Allegris Fitted Airbus A350 Delivered to Lufthansa
Leipzig is the name chosen for the latest A350-900 to join the Lufthansa fleet. This is quite a special and important arrival for Lufthansa. It is in fact the first plane to offer passengers the all new premium cabin experience, with its Allegris cabins. The delivery ferry flight which took place on April 13th 2024 positioned the flight at its new home and base of Munich airport.
The plane arrived in Munich directly from the assembly plant in Toulouse, where all A350s are manufactured. Registration number of this new plane, so you can keep an eye out for it, is D-AIXT. Its cabins offer:
- 3 First Class Suites
- 38 Business Class Seats
- 24 Premium Economy Seats
- 201 Economy Class Seats
The 3 first class suites make up the first row of the plane and are laid out in a 1-1-1 configuration. The central suite is designed to accomodate up to 2 passengers becoming a sort of honeymoon suite and are totally enclosed.
Finally Lufthansa let go of its horrible 2-2-2 layout updating its hard product to be able to compete with other major carriers. All passengers travelling in Allegris business class will have direct aisle access (it’s about time in 2024). However there is something very peculiar about the new Lufthansa business class which I’ll touch on later in this post.
Premium economy also got an interesting update. I must say, although I’m not usually a Lufthansa fan, I like what they did with this particular cabin. Premium Economy seats now have a shell. That means that when you recline the shell doesn’t move therefore not bothering the passenger behind.
The plane is undergoing the last touch ups and checks before it enters service shortly.
When and Where To Will Lufthansa’s Allegris First Fly?
After huge delays finally Lufthansa is ready to launch its first service offering passengers the opportunity of experiencing first hand the new Allegris cabins. The first flight is scheduled to operate on May 1st 2024 on the Munich to Vancouver sector. We’ll have to wait for more deliveries to see these new cabins on other routes.
Therefore Lufthansa will offer 2 very different business class layouts on its planes:
- Allegris – currently available only on D-AIXT A350.
- SuperDiamond by Collins Aerospace – on its Boeing 787-9s
- The old business class – on all other long range planes.
So pay attention when booking your next flight with Lufthansa. The travel experience varies massively between one hard product and the other. Do keep in mind though that the vast majority of flights still fits the old business class product featuring the out of date 2-2-2 layout.
The Peculiarity of The Allegris Business Class Cabin
There is something that stands out about the choice made by Lufthansa in terms of cabin layout. This isn’t the case in first class where the 3 suites are very similar one to another, but it is much more the case in Business class. The german airline chose to create a cabin featuring seats in many different orientations and positions.
Rows alternate a 1-2-1 and a 1-1-1 with seat layouts varying quite a bit from one row to the other. The airline explained that the goal was to create a cabin that would offer a seat type for every passenger preference. A way of creating a travel experience comfortable for many different preferences.
I might be a little too cheeky but here goes my opinion. It is very true that this cabin layout offers something that appeals to a wider number of passengers, but only in an ideal world will each passenger always get to fly in the seat that it prefers most. In absence of status or booking last minute it very likely to end up in a seat we don’t like at all. This cabin layout choice gives me the feeling that not all seats are equal. Some seats are clearly much nicer than others. As I see it other passengers will too and soon there will be some clear favourites among passengers. If the airline realises it might be the chance to sell these seats for a premium.
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