The introduction of Lufthansa’s new Allegris cabin concept hasn’t been without drama, to put it mildly. Right now, Lufthansa’s biggest issue is with its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are ready to fly, with one major problem — most of the business class seats haven’t yet been certified by regulators.
There’s now an interesting update, as the first Dreamliners with Allegris cabins are expected to enter long haul service next week, with what might just be the most exclusive business class cabin on any global airline.
Lufthansa’s 787 business class certification issues
In 2024, we saw Lufthansa introduce its new Allegris concept, with the most exciting development being the debut of the new Allegris business class, finally offering direct aisle access from all seats.
This product was launched on the Airbus A350-900, but that wasn’t without its challenges. First there were supply chain issues with getting the new seats. But even when the new business class, premium economy, and economy, were ready to go, the new first class wasn’t. So Lufthansa started flying these planes with the space of the first class cabin empty. Fortunately that has since been resolved, and the new first class has been in service for some time.
However, for several months, Lufthansa has been facing a much bigger issue with its Boeing 787s, which are also supposed to feature the new Allegris cabins (though without first class). Lufthansa has around 15 Dreamliners that are more or less ready to go, except most of the business class seats can’t be used.
What’s the issue? The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hasn’t certified some of these new business class seats. You might be thinking “wait, aren’t these the same seats as on the A350?” Sort of. Lufthansa’s Allegris business class seats are actually produced by three different seating manufacturers (yeah… don’t ask), and certification is required for each seat type on each aircraft type. So far, only one of those three types of seats has been certified on the 787.
To give a sense of just how bad things became, at an event in December 2024, a Lufthansa executive acknowledged that a “scenario in which the seats are not approved at all is not out of the question.” Yowzers. Fortunately Lufthansa management has a more positive outlook now, but the situation still isn’t great.
Lufthansa’s plan to fly 787s with Allegris cabins
Lufthansa has been dealing with a major aircraft shortage. The airline was relying on the Boeing 777X for its fleet renewal, but that plane has been delayed by at least seven years (but it seems like certification process is finally being made). Then Lufthansa had delays with its new Airbus A350s due to the Allegris cabins. Now Lufthansa is dealing with issues on the new Boeing 787s — the general Boeing delivery delays aren’t even an issue, but just the seat certification.
The good news is that several weeks ago, Lufthansa took delivery of its first of these Allegris Dreamliners. Specifically, we’re talking about the plane with the registration code D-ABPF, which was delivered on August 28, 2025. While we’ll see how this plays out, the expectation is that Lufthansa will get 10 of these planes before the end of the year.
Anyway, the airline has now scheduled these planes on several routes, as reported by AeroRoutes. These new Dreamliners will be based in Frankfurt (FRA), and are currently scheduled to operate select frequencies to the following destinations:
- To Toronto (YYZ), between October 8 and October 24, 2025
- To Hyderabad (HYD), as of October 26, 2025
- To Bogota (BOG), as of October 27, 2027
- To Rio de Janeiro (GIG), as of October 28, 2025
- To Austin (AUS), as of December 2, 2025
For these services, the airline is currently selling just four business class seats per flight. Since Lufthansa has so many different seating types in Allegris, what’s going on here is that only the business class suites in the first row are available for sale and have been certified, while all the other seat types haven’t.
So those lucky enough to be in business class on these flights will get the absolute best seats. On top of that, these have to be some pretty unique flights, where you’re in a business class cabin with just four seats occupied.
At this point, the goal is for the business class seats to be certified by the end of 2025. Now, whether that actually happens remains to be seen. Obviously Lufthansa could choose between two bad options here — continuing to store these planes, or flying these planes with most business class seats blocked. The airline ultimately decided on the latter, and while less than ideal, it’s probably the right move.
Keep in mind that taking delivery of these new 787s is part of Lufthansa’s fleet renewal plan, as the airline plans to retire multiple aircraft types in the coming years.
Bottom line
Lufthansa has had serious issues with getting its new Boeing 787s into service, due to lack of certification with the new business class seats. Currently, Lufthansa management expects the seats will be certified by the end of 2025. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen.
With the airline having around 15 of these planes ready to go, the plan is to now finally put them into service, even if most business class seats can’t be occupied. These planes will start operating long haul flights next week, with only four of the business class seats able to be occupied. Obviously that’s less than ideal — then again, both options (grounding or flying the planes) kind of suck.
This Allegris rollout really hasn’t been very smooth, to put it mildly. First the airline had to fly A350s with the space of the first class cabin empty. Then Lufthansa parked brand new 787s for many months due to not getting the seats certified. Never mind that SWISS is introducing the same product, and will have to install a 1.5 ton weight in the back of A330s, because first class is too heavy.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s Dreamliner drama?
