Series: Premium Airline Cabins - How often does the hype match the reality?
This premium cabin breakdown is the second in our series detailing the premium cabins of major airlines. Previously, we detailed the premium cabins across Delta Air Lines’ fleet; today, we turn our attention to Lufthansa.
Lufthansa
Lufthansa is a monster player in the European airline market. Their Lufthansa Airlines Group consists of Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and this year took a 41% ownership share of Italian Flag carrier, ITA. The reach of this group is huge, being the flag carrier of 5 of the largest economies in Europe.
For this review, I will focus solely on the Lufthansa Airlines business class hard product.
As the largest economy in Europe, Germany has well-established business stakes around the world. The country’s pragmatic, no-nonsense business culture has long been reflected in the adequate, but not flashy business class cabins of their aircraft.
Lufthansa is a unique case because they are currently in an active transition to a new business product that launched this year. I will highlight their much more common, longstanding business product first, and then dive into the very unique strategy Lufthansa is moving towards in their business cabin of the future.
Before diving in, I invite you to check out how Lufthansa markets their business class currently.
If you watched it, did you catch that of the 1 minute, 17 second clip only 18 seconds were from in the cabin? 80% of this clip focuses more on the soft product, meaning ground service, meal service, and…website? Very little is shown of the actual seat and cabin, so let’s clear up some of that mystery by digging into what Lufthansa offers.
Before breaking it down...
I think it’s important to understand the context of Lufthansa’s business class.
Lufthansa largely has a standard and consistent hard product in their long-haul business class. The seat variation that exists is solely from the rollout of their newest seat, as well as the acquisition of unexpected aircraft when their original intended airlines were unable to finance them.
Unlike Delta, Lufthansa hasn’t branded their business class with a unique name, it is simply called “Business Class,” even in their German-language branding. It can get a bit confusing as Lufthansa has branded their all new upcoming cabin as Allegris, but this branding doesn’t exclusively apply to Business. The Allegris update describes their new Economy, Premium Economy, Business, and First cabins which all have updates in the Allegris rollout.
Lufthansa is good at differentiating this experience and identifying which cities you will find it, so travelers who look into it shouldn’t ever feel a “gotcha” when they board an aircraft with their current most common type.
Standard Business Class, no Angst, but Lackluster
Lie-flat business class was pioneered by British Airways and introduced back in 2000. Lufthansa has long been behind the cutting edge in their premium cabin hard products, and that’s no different with their current most common business class.
Lufthansa introduced this seat when they took delivery of their Boeing 747-8 aircraft in 2012. It was their first time with a truly lie-flat seat, having opted prior for an angle-flat (meaning the surface was completely flat, but it sat at an angle with your head higher off the ground than your feet).
Frequent Lufthansa travelers were relieved to see Lufthansa finally introducing lie-flat 12 years after it had been introduced, but many noted how the airline chose to forego direct aisle access which was becoming the new norm in 2012.
The Landing...
Reflecting the previously mentioned understated and pragmatic German culture, Lufthansa rolled out the minimum standard of the time with truly life flat seats.
Unfortunately they opted to have 6-across business seating where other carriers had chosen 4-across on the same aircraft. Doing so meant compromising direct aisle access and general personal space and privacy. However, it has maximized revenue with more seats for sale.
You will currently find this seat on all of Lufthansa’s A330s, A340s, A380s, and 747-8s. This represents the vast majority of Lufthansa’s very large long-haul fleet.
Allegris Business Class - The Flagship
At the time of the writing of this article, Lufthansa currently only operates their Allegris Business Class cabin on some of their Airbus A350 aircraft. Unlike the reverse-herringbone I touted in my Delta piece as having a very solid and consistent product in any seat in the cabin, Lufthansa is marketing their new Allegris Business Class as having 5 different seat types.
I’m going to go a bit out of order with the legend Lufthansa provides here, but let me describe. First I will start by saying that this product does hit the two most important requirements in a globally competitive business class today–the seats are fully lie-flat, and all have direct access to the aisle.
#5 “Classic Seat” – This is the entry level seat on Lufthansa Allegris Business Class. It is the least desirable of the options because it is exposed to the aisle and further from the window to be able to view outside. This is the only seat a traveler will be able to select free of charge when purchasing a Lufthansa Allegris Business Class seat.
Do you want a different seat? There will be costs for any other type in the cabin, I’ll outline current prices for alternate seat type selection on the Munich – Charlotte route today.
#2 “Privacy Seat” – This seat is essentially identical to the Classic Seat, but is placed away from the aisle and closer to the window, allowing the passenger to feel more enclosed and giving them a greater level of…well privacy. Lufthansa is charging $170USD to select this seat after purchasing your business class ticket.
#4 “Extra Long Bed Seat” – If you look closely at the rendering above, this seat type sits behind an Extra Space Seat on the side that does not exit to the aisle. Presumably the space that remains from not having aisle access on that side is used as an extended foot well. Lufthansa says this seat lies flat to a 7 foot, 2 inch length, which would make it the longest business class seat in the sky today. The airline has made 7 foot tall German basketball player, Dirk Nowtizki, a spokesman for the seat. This seat will also cost $170USD to select, and while it has length, it has the same level of aisle exposure as the Classic Seat.
#3 “Extra Space Seat” – This unique seat offers two side tables instead of one, with one notably bigger than any other in the cabin. Swiss and Jetblue original Mint offer a seat like this currently and it is commonly referred to as the “throne” seat in the industry. Lufthansa highlights how helpful this extra space can be for working on board. They charge an additional $205USD for the privilege.
#1 “Suite” – Now this one is special. Since the pandemic, many new business class cabins have been taking advantage of the bulkhead space in the business cabin and differentiating the seat to make it more premium. Some airlines, like Starlux, even market this differentiated seat as a “First Class.” Most in the industry find it a stretch to call this a First Class product, so I’m glad to see Lufthansa didn’t go this route. Instead, for these bulkhead seats, Lufthansa has raised the partition around the seat and added a door (the new differentiator between a good and great business class). These seats are a $604USD upcharge which is steep, but far less than what other carriers are charging when calling similar products “First Class.”
The Landing...
The new Allegris business product from Lufthansa is unique. No other carrier has attempted to distinguish 5 seat “types” within a cabin before and it will be very interesting to see how Lufthansa continues to do so.
The customization of experience may appeal to travelers, but the extra cash grab won’t make many smile. This is an experiment and time will tell if it will spell success for the German flag carrier.
The decision to offer so many options is likely tied to long term strategy in diversifying airline rich content distribution through NDC (New Distribution Capability) channels.
Ex-Hainan Airlines 787 - Fleet Wunderkind
In the pandemic, Lufthansa made a strategic decision to retire many of their aging long-haul aircraft. They had plans for long-haul fleet renewal coming in the later 2020s, and didn’t anticipate long haul travel to bounce back as quickly as it did post-pandemic.
This decision turned out to put pressure on their operations with demand soaring and them not having the same number of aircraft in their fleet. So when Hainan Airlines was unable to finance 5 Boeing 787s (a type which Lufthansa didn’t yet fly, but had ordered and anticipated delivery in 2025), Lufthansa swooped in to offer more flights and began operations in 2023.
In order to get these planes in service fast, Lufthansa kept the seats Hainan had but updated the fabrics and branding.
If you read the Delta piece in this series, you may recognize this practice with their ex-LATAM 350s. You may also recognize the seat. It is one of the most celebrated business seats in the sky, the Collins Aeropace Super Diamond, which is also found on Delta’s A330-300s among other airlines.
The Landing...
This seat is common but still so effective. The key reasons this seat is so well-received are the basics we always discuss: a lie-flat seat and direct aisle access. But this seat expands on that with inherent privacy, having every seat facing away from the aisle, incredible consistency with every seat providing a near identical experience, and great space, both in comfort and storage.
Ex-Philippine Airlines A350 - Delta Doppelganger
Opportunism has blessed Lufthansa in their post-pandemic fleet compression. The airline took on their first A350 in 2016 and had more on order, but saw an opportunity in 2021 when Philippine Airlines ended their lease on four A350s delivered between 2018 and 2019.
Lufthansa needed to get these to revenue flight fast in order to take advantage of market opportunities (sound familiar?) so they opted again to keep the existing business class seat, but rebrand it with Lufthansa colors and logos. The seat is the same (but wider) as Delta’s 767-400s, utilizing the Thompson Aero Vantage XL.
The Landing...
Like their 787 from Hainan Airlines, this business class is superior to Lufthansa’s current standard. In addition to being lie-flat, it offers direct aisle access, and much more privacy.
Compared to their 787, some travelers will prefer a window seat to an aisle due to the greater level of privacy away from the aisle. This product still remains far more consistent than the new upcoming Lufthansa Allegris Business Class.
How often does the dream match the flight?
Lufthansa goes to great lengths on their website to explain and inform where to find each of their business class products. In their video marketing linked earlier, they were cautious to include differentiating features of their variation of seats.
While I find their site to be transparent and helpful, it is still a lot to navigate what to expect and many won’t make the effort. The most difficult aircraft to identify products is the A350 (their most common type in their long-haul fleet), which currently operates with three vastly different business class cabins.
Since Lufthansa doesn’t explicitly promise one product, I’ll break down the odds of getting each across their 106 long-haul aircraft.
Lufthansa Allegris currently operates on 9 aircraft, or about 8.5% of the fleet. This is mostly forgivable as it was only released last year and the airline will take years to convert their fleet.
The Ex-Hainan Airlines 787s are 5 aircraft, or about 4.7% of the fleet. Time will tell how long this product flies, but ultimately it will be replaced with Lufthansa Allegris Business Class.
The Ex-Philippines Airlines A350s are 4 aircraft, or about 3.8% of the fleet. Like the Hainan Airlines 787, this product will have an end date, but there are no public timelines for conversion to Allegris Business Class.
That means, if you fly Lufthansa Business Class today, you have an 83% chance of getting their standard business class seat. While this is undoubtedly the least desirable of their fleet, it does represent a consistency not seen in many carriers. There will currently be few surprises for business travelers boarding a Lufthansa aircraft.
Future Plans for Lufthansa's Allegris Business Class
Lufthansa’s customized Allegris cabins have been plagued with delays in supply chain and certification. The ultimate plan is to take delivery of new and convert existing aircraft cabins to this product with one very unique exception – the 747-8.
The Boeing 747 was the first jumbo jet and took flight in the 70s. Most airlines have long retired the type, but Boeing introduced an updated version in the 747-8 in the early 2000s. It was developed to compete with the PR machine, the Airbus A380.
Few airlines bought this new 747, but Lufthansa was one of them and took delivery only in 2012. This fleet member has a good 20 years left in its service life for the carrier, and it presents a unique Allegris problem.
The Boeing 747 is one of the most iconic looking aircraft because of their second level in the front of the plane. This second level features a unique and intimate cabin with a single aisle. According to reports, Lufthansa plans to retrofit their 747-8 business class with Allegris Business Class in the larger, first level of the plane, but maintain their existing standard business class in the upper cabin.
It is extremely uncommon for an airline to operate two different business class products in a single aircraft (I’m not clear if it has ever happened before), and it will be very interesting to see how Lufthansa sells these subpar seats after the conversion happens.
Rumors are that the upper level will ultimately get the update to Allegris at a later date, likely due to delays in design/certification of a seat suitable to a single aisle. There is currently no official timeline for full fleet conversion, but the German and global flying public will be happy to see the upgrades as they come.