Lufthansa begins equipping Allegris first class on its first A350

CHICAGO — Lufthansa is currently equipping an initial Airbus A350 with its new Allegris first class “suite plus” product in preparation for its launch in commercial service on select flights.

“We haven’t announced a date yet, but we have a first aircraft equipped with it and we are in the process of introducing it on the aircraft,” Heiko Reitz, Chief Customer Officer of Lufthansa Airlines, revealed to the Runway Girl Network in Chicago on September 5, where the airline held a special event to celebrate the official introduction of its Allegris generation long-haul product in the United States.

Supply chain constraints at seat manufacturer Collins Aerospace have slowed the rollout of Allegris First Class, but those bottlenecks appear to be easing. Reitz says: “We’re pretty pleased with the progress and at some point we’ll announce the official start date of First Class flights as well.”

On May 1, Lufthansa introduced Allegris on select A350-900 flights from Munich to Vancouver, followed by Munich-Toronto. Since then, passengers on select A350 flights from Munich to San Francisco, Shanghai and now Chicago have been able to experience Allegris business class, premium economy and economy class. However, the first class section is blocked with a cluster of economy class seats.

Reitz admitted that passengers on his flight to Chicago this week were curious about the blocked-off space up front and “what’s going to happen there. It’s still under construction, so it’ll be exciting to see how it gets built.”

There are several notable aspects of the Allegris first class product: the middle section offers a two-seater sofa that converts into a double bed and there is an interesting new flexible door, as well as new colours, materials and finishes. Image: Lufthansa

Five A350s now have Allegris business class, premium economy and economy class, and “the fifth is now in the air,” Reitz said. The business class cabin famously has seven different types of suites (although RGN’s John Walton estimates there are 11 suites with material differences).

But while Lufthansa will price these suites differently in the future, by charging a surcharge for more premium suites, such as suites with a longer bed or more privacy, this is not yet happening.

“We’re still in the introduction phase. We want to get as much feedback from customers as possible, and learn what people think about it. And we’re building the fleet slowly. So when we have a significant number of aircraft, we’ll really start commercializing it,” Reitz explained.

To date, around 120,000 passengers have flown with Allegris on more than 500 flights. Feedback has been very positive, with Reitz saying it is “really exciting to see how people react and how happy they are.” Lufthansa will introduce Allegris on selected flights from Munich to Bengaluru and Cape Town in late October.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group carrier Swiss is bringing its Senses version of this long-haul product to its Airbus A330s, but as reported by German media and CNN, the high walls and lockable doors of the first class “suite plus” product make the A330s nose-heavy, and Swiss will have to install a balancing plate at the rear of the plane to re-center it.

Lufthansa is not bringing Allegris first class to its A330s, and Reitz told RGN there are “no issues” with bringing Allegris first class to the aircraft types that receive the product at Lufthansa Airlines: the A350, Boeing 787 and Boeing 747-8. So it appears the issue is unique to the A330.

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All images of Allegris first class are attributed to Lufthansa