While First Class Suite and Business Class understandably grabbed the headlines in Lufthansa’s press release on the new “Allegris” programme, it shouldn’t be missed that Premium Economy and Economy will be getting new seats as well.
In this post, I’ll run through the details of the new Premium Economy and Economy products, and share some of my thoughts on this product as well. I’ve shared my thoughts on the new First Class suites and Business Class earlier, which you can read in these posts:
- Lufthansa “Allegris” & First Class Suite Details
- Lufthansa’s New “Allegris” Business Class Seat Details
What is “Allegris”?
Before going into the details of each cabin product, a little background on “Allegris”. Lufthansa first announced plans for a revamp of its cabin experience back in October 2022, under the project name “Allegris”. Lufthansa touts “Allegris” as a “completely new travel experience”. Each travel class will see new products, and Lufthansa pitches them as “unparalleled in the market thanks to its seating variety”. To deliver “Allegris” and other product and service improvements, Lufthansa is committing to investing 2.5 billion Euros up to 2025.
New Premium Economy seats
The new Premium Economy seats aren’t technically new to the Lufthansa Group. This product – the ZIMprivacy entered service with Swiss last year. This a fixed-shell seat, meaning the seat will recline within the shell, thus not affecting the legroom of the passenger behind. Lufthansa will increase the seat pitch by 2.5cm (approx 1inch) to 99cm (approx 39inches). That’s up from the current 38inches with the existing Premium Economy seats. I suspect that’s partly due to the fixed shell design, if the seat can’t go backwards when reclining, it’ll have to forward a little right?
The other benefits of a fixed hard shell design is that when the passenger in front reclines, the position of the tray table and IFE monitor remain unchanged. Tech-wise, the IFE monitor will be a 15.6inch unit, while wireless charging and Bluetooth connectivity will feature as well.
The new 787s to be delivered by end 2023 will be fitted with 28 Premium Economy seats, while the “Allegris”-fitted A350s will be configured with 24 seats.
New Economy seats
For Economy, Lufthansa has selected the Recaro CL3810 model for the “Allegris”-equipped aircraft. Admittedly there’s not much that can be done with Economy class, so it’s just some minor tweaks and upgrades here. Economy class passengers will still get the same pitch – 79cm (or 31inches) – but for the first time on Lufthansa there will be extra legroom rows at the front of the cabin. These extra legroom seats will have a pitch of 86cm (approx 34inches).
The new seats will be fitted with tablet holders, USB ports. Bluetooth connectivity will be available as well, standard through the entire aircraft.
The 787s will be configured with 231 Economy seats including 34 extra legroom seats, while the A350s will be less dense with just 201 Economy seats including 22 extra legroom seats.
Which aircraft will get the new products?
We know the new seats will be fitted to newly-delivered 787-9s due by end of 2023, with newbuild A350s to follow in 2024. In future, the 777-9 will also get “Allegris”, whenever they eventually get delivered (no earlier than 2025). Lufthansa has also mentioned that the 747-8s will be refitted with the new “Allegris” products. There’s no word on whether the A380s or 787s and A350s already in the fleet will be refitted as well.
Conclusion
Lufthansa will be installing new Premium Economy and Economy seats on its newbuild 787s due by end 2023, and A350s from 2024, under the “Allegris” cabin experience programme. These new seats are incremental upgrades to its existing offerings. Premium Economy will also slightly increased pitch and a more private, fixed-shell seat. Economy on the other hand, will see some tech upgrades and introduction of extra legroom seats.
Featured image credit: Lufthansa