The introduction of Lufthansa’s new Allegris cabin concept hasn’t been without drama, to put it mildly. Over the past several months, Lufthansa’s biggest issue has been with its new Boeing 787s, as the airline has struggled to get its new business class seats certified.
In October 2025, we saw the new Dreamliners enter commercial service, though with most business class seats blocked. We know that Lufthansa has been trying to get these seats certified ASAP, though up until now, there has been no firm timeline.
So there’s finally some positive news for Lufthansa, as a majority of 787 Allegris business class seats can be occupied for flights as of April 15, 2026. Let’s cover all the details, including some background.
Lufthansa’s 787 business class seat 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 much of 2025, Lufthansa was facing a much bigger issue with its Boeing 787s, which also feature the new Allegris cabins (though without first class). Lufthansa currently has eight brand new Dreamliners, with 21 more expected to be delivered by the end of 2027. The catch is that up until now, most of the business class seats on these planes couldn’t be occupied.
What was the issue? Well, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) didn’t certify some of the 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. Initially, only one of those three types of seats had been certified on the 787.
25 of 28 business class seats can soon be occupied
In October 2025, Lufthansa began flying its new Boeing 787s, though only four of the 28 business class seats could be occupied up until now. 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 have been certified, while all the other seat types haven’t.
So there’s now a positive development — for flights as of April 15, 2026, Lufthansa is able to sell 25 of its 28 Allegris business class seats on the 787. The increased number of business class seats are bookable for flights as of that date effective immediately. Interestingly, the three seats that won’t be bookable for the time being are all in row two.
I am a little confused about whether those 25 seats have been fully certified, or whether Lufthansa is just confident that they’ll be certified by then. If they have been fully certified, you’d think that they’d just be able to sell them for flights effective immediately.
The way Lufthansa phrases this is interesting — “after further important milestones in the certification process were reached in recent weeks, nothing now stands in the way of the approval of Allegris Business Class in the Boeing 787-9.” So it sounds like the certification isn’t quite there, but is close? Regardless, it’s the first time that Lufthansa has put out a press release like this.
Here’s how Lufthansa CEO Jens Ritter describes this:
“Our guests love Allegris. More than one million passengers have traveled in the new cabin since summer 2024. We are delighted to be able to offer significantly more passengers this top-of-the-range product for bookings from Frankfurt starting today. Allegris is an experience in all classes; the approval of the majority of seats in Business Class on the Boeing 787-9 is an important milestone for Lufthansa – and above all, great news for our customers!”
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. The airline already has eight of these new Dreamliners, but up until now, only four of the 28 business class seats have been on sale.
So there’s finally some good news, as Lufthansa is confident that for flights as of April 15, 2026, 25 of the 28 business class seats will be bookable. This is fantastic progress, and it’s good for both the company any for passengers.
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 has introduced 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 progress?
