Lufthansa has a decent first class service and some good prices for business class. However, many of their aircraft feature very outdated seats along with very average business class service. All this has meant that I generally avoid Lufthansa and choose Swiss if there was a special offer.
Gradually things have been improving at Lufthansa with the purchase of a number of aircraft with better seats that were originally destined for other airlines. This has given them a number of aircraft with 1-2-1layouts, but they still seem dated compared to the suites many airlines have rolled out.
Lufthansa has finally revealed the design of its own design for business and first class with new suites.
The airline is introducing a new premium product on long-haul routes under the name “Allegris” in all travel classes (i.e. Economy, Premium Economy, Business and First Class). “Allegris” has been developed exclusively for the Lufthansa Group.
In this post:
First class suites
For the very first time in the company’s history, the Lufthansa First Class is receiving spacious suites that offer nearly ceiling-high walls that can be closed for privacy. The seat, which is almost one meter wide, can be converted into a large, comfortable bed. All seats and beds are positioned in the direction of flight. Personally, I don’t have an issue with flying backwards, but quite a few people do.
In addition to many other storage options, there is a large, personal wardrobe in every suite. You can even change into your Lufthansa First Class pajamas in the suite in privacy! There are very few first class suites that offer such high walls with perhaps Emirates Game Changer being one of the most private suites.
Eating together is made possible for guests at a large dining table, where you can sit across from your partner or fellow traveller like in a restaurant. BA offer this on some of their older first suites and it is popular with a lot of people. There will be gourmet menus along with the airline’s unique caviar service. Entertainment is provided by screens that extend across the full width of the suite, with Bluetooth connectivity for wireless headphones.
Lufthansa will present details of the suite, as well as a further innovation in First Class, at the beginning of next year.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “We want to set new, unprecedented standards for our guests. The largest investment in premium products in our company’s history underpins our claim to continue to be the leading Western premium airline in the future.”
While there is nothing truly innovative here so far, I would be very happy to fly in this suite. Lufthansa have always had the ground services and food onboard that was worthy of First class but the seat was something of a let down. With these new suites, they will definitely be back to one of the top first products on a European airline.
New Business Class: Suite in the front row
Like Virgin’s new Retreat Suite, and JetBlue’s Mint Studio, Lufthansa will offer a larger business plus seat in the front row. Now, guests in Lufthansa Business Class can also look forward to their own suite, which offers even more comfort and privacy due to higher walls and sliding doors that completely close. Here, travelers get extended personal space, a monitor up to 27 inches in size and ample storage space, including a personal wardrobe. Personal wardrobes are more normally seen in First class, and in some respects this is a business/first hybrid.
Other business class seats
As well as the front row, there are six seating options for business class. Passengers have direct access to the aisle from all Business Class seats, unlike their current design. We had already seen a sneak peak of the centre seats that have a lot of privacy. The other seats are very similar to all the other suites in business class. While it’s nothing new in general, it’s a huge leap forward for Lufthansa’s currently poor and dated seats. The centre seats will for once, be the ones to covet with all the extra space, but it will be interesting to see if there is a premium or they will only be reserved for elite members.
The seat walls, which are at least 114 centimeters high, with generous space in the shoulder area, ensure greater privacy. All seats can be converted into a two-meter-long bed.
Passengers can enjoy the in-flight entertainment program on monitors measuring nearly 17 inches. Wireless charging, noise-canceling headphones and the ability to connect your own devices, such as a PC, tablet, smartphone, or headphones, to the entertainment system, via Bluetooth, are also part of the new Allegris Business Class experience.
The company will also present further details and innovations on the new Lufthansa Business Class next spring.
Lufthansa plans “Sleeper’s Row 2.0” in Economy Class
With the “Allegris” product generation, Lufthansa will also give its guests significantly more choice in Economy Class. For example, in the future, travelers will have the option of booking seats in the first rows, which have a greater seat pitch and offer additional comfort. Following the success of the “Sleeper’s Row”, which offered Economy Class passengers greater relaxation on long-distance flights since August 2021, Lufthansa now plans to introduce a “Sleeper’s Row 2.0” on all new long-haul aircraft, as part of “Allegris.”
In the “Sleeper’s Row 2.0”, one must simply fold up a leg rest and utilize the additional mattress on offer, for rest and relaxation on a reclining surface that is 40 percent larger compared to the original “Sleeper’s Row”. Also in the future, Economy Class passengers will also have the option of booking a vacant neighbouring seat.
Premium economy
The new Lufthansa Group Premium Economy Class was already introduced at SWISS in spring 2022. The comfortable seat is integrated into a hard shell and can be adjusted effortlessly, without affecting fellow passengers in the row behind. The seat offers generous space in the upper body and leg areas, and is equipped with a fold-out leg rest. Passengers can enjoy movies or music on their personal 15.6-inch monitor with high-quality, noise-canceling headphones.
Which aircraft will have the seats? Good news for B747 fans!
More than 100 new Lufthansa Group aircraft, such as Boeing 787-9s, Airbus A350s and Boeing 777-9s, will fly to destinations around the world with the new “Allegris” service. Additionally, aircraft already in service with Lufthansa, such as the Boeing 747-8, will be converted.
There will be a Lufthansa Group-wide replacement of more than 30,000 seats. By 2025, the Lufthansa Group will invest a total of 2.5 billion euros in product and service alone to further improve the customer experience at every stage of the journey – from initial booking, throughout the airport, lounge and border experience, to customer requests even after the flight.
Business class seats already launched on selected A350 and B787-9
Lufthansa is already offering an improved business class on certain aircraft. The latest addition to the fleet, the Boeing 787-9, and four Airbus A350s delivered to Lufthansa in recent months, feature an improved business class from the manufacturers Thompson (A350) and Collins (787-9).
All seats are located directly on the aisle, can be easily and converted into a two-meter-long bed and offer more storage space. A further four Boeing 787-9s with this Business Class will be delivered to Lufthansa in the coming weeks.
Modern aircraft
The Lufthansa Group is about to embark on the largest fleet modernization in its corporate history. By 2030, more than 180 new short- and long-haul aircraft are to be delivered to the Group’s airlines. On average, the Group will take delivery of a new aircraft every two weeks, whether Boeing 787s, Airbus 350s, Boeing 777-9s on long-haul routes or new Airbus A320neos for short-haul flights.
Between 2022 and 2027, the Lufthansa Group will receive a total of 32 Boeing Dreamliners.
6 comments
Jeez LH, it’ll take a lot more than some fancy First Class suite available next year LOL. LH has serious problems both on-board and on-ground.
For starters, turn the bloody heat down n your cabins, jeezuz people, your cattle are boiling to death every time they step on one of your aircraft. 24-25c in a stuffy uncomfortable cabin. The upper deck of the 747-8 used to be one of the most desired cabins to be in until LH got their hands on the temperature gauges and have the seats virtually facing each other so one can play footsies with fellow passengers they don’t even know.
As for the cabin crew, the airline needs a big ole broom to get rid of all the dead wood. They are complacent, lazy and arrogant at best. Tired ld things they are. Get a broom and get rid of most of them.
And don’t get me started on the website. Who agrees this has to be the worst Airline website of all. It’s cumbersome, it’s slow, it’s hideous. And don’t even think of trying to get a refund for flights they cancelled out of them. 14 months later and I am still waiting for my €1200. I wish I could sue their sorry asses for the grief, the time and the lost income not to mention what extra it has cost me in calls and time chasing them. They tell lies. They say it is processing time and time again and a few weeks later, nothing.
So it’s all well & good LH introducing fancy new F seats ( in a few years LOL ) that 99.9% of your victims will never have the opportunity to fly in. Get the rest of your damn airline sorted so at least us in the awful Business and Economy Classes are not treated like the great unwashed you think we are
Have you tried a charge back on your credit card if you paid that way? I agree LH performed very badly with refunds over Covid.
I’ve had a number of Lufthansa cancellations over the last 24 months and all have been refunded to my card inside 72 hours.
On the rest, I agree with you, they have fallen a long way and I won’t be flying with them any time soon. Bear in mind also the last time they retrofitted their fleet with a ‘new’ (to them) product, it took about ten years.
Of this new product, there is one ‘business suite’ and the rest looks nothing special and the F product while a step up on their current offering is about in line with the competition. However, as long as their soft product remains as poor as it currently is, it’s not something I will be buying.
Wildly OT but – Michele, did you ever get an answer out of Virgin about the seats on the 787 which are now so out of date?
I haven’t yet but hopefully more wlll be revealed at launch of the A330neo in a couple of weeks.
Thank you.
So I have to come to Lufthansa’s defence. I ditched BA some years ago, despite having Gold for Life, as their service and food had fallen so far below expectations. I moved to Luft where despite seating being out of the ark, their business class offering remained dependable and their customer service for their Senator level, very good. During and now post Covid, despite the staffing problems across all airlines, they still perform ..unlike Singapore airlines and Swiss (yes I know that is a Luft brand) where I have had real problems on ticketing, web site super clunkiness and call centre availability/expertise..non existent. Where all airlines are being very naif and ignorant of their customer base’s feelings, is in their single minded pursuit of post Covid profit replacement, where we are seeing quite astronomic fare increases, that for a regular client is insulting and shows short termism and lack of understanding and reciprocal loyalty.
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