Lufthansa New Business Class to Debut May 1, 2024

Lufthansa's Allegris New Business Class will launch on May 1, 2024:

On 6 A350-900 aircraft on flights from Munich MUC, rolled out from May-July 2024, on selected flights to Vancouver YVR and Toronto YYZ. Initial Allegris flights from Munich to Vancouver will be on May 1, 5, and 9, and from Munich to Toronto on May 2, 4, 6, and 8. Passengers will be able to see whether their flight is on an Allegris aircraft three weeks prior to their travel date.

Ultimately Lufthansa plans to offer Allegris on more than 100 new Airbus 350 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and will retrofit existing 747-8 aircraft.

Separately, Lufthansa's New First Class Suites will debut on flights from Munich MUC from in Q4 2024

There won't be any Lufthansa First Class on the new 777-9, also called the 777X aircraft, and Lufthansa has no plans to retrofit older aircraft with this Lufthansa New Business Class, also termed “Business Class Plus” since each seat will have direct aisle access.

This is a great improvement compared to Lufthansa's current Business Class, which is in a 2-2-2 configuration, but keep in mind that ironically, Lufthansa really lags in the business class seat department compared to other Lufthansa Group airlines.

SWISS Business Class has direct aisle access for virtually every seat apart from a couple in its mini cabin, in a staggered configuration. It also has 5 coveted “throne” seats on the left hand side, which you typically pay extra to select, unless you're a Miles & More elite (see Swiss Business Class: Pay $149-$199 to Select a Good Seat).

Austrian Business Class has direct aisle access for each seat, also in a staggered configuration, although no mini cabin and no throne seats.

Brussels Business Class also offers direct aisle access for each seat, in a staggered configuration, and more throne seats than SWISS because of the alternating rows of 1-2-1 and 2-1-2, where each “1” is a throne seat.

So, while I'm happy that Lufthansa's new business class Allegris seat is joining the 21st century when it debuts, this is not revolutionary by any means:

Most world class business class product already offer direct aisle access for each seat
Lufthansa's new product is behind in terms of privacy; JetBlue Mint (2014) and Qatar Qsuites Business Class (2017) introduced business class suites with closing doors
Even KLM, not known for being cutting edge, expects all its 777 aircraft to have KLM's new business class suites with closing doors by later in 2024.
The staggered configuration is ok, but in my view not nearly as comfortable as JAL Sky Suite Business Class (which I view as the most comfortable business class hard product in the sky, at least if you're fairly slim in build) or the reverse herringbone configuration Cathay Pacific Business Class and others have been using for years
The Lufthansa rendering only shows throne seats in the middle; SWISS and Brussels Airlines both offer window seat throne seats, which most passengers prefer as you only have one aisle with foot traffic near year, as opposed to two.
Most likely Lufthansa will charge extra to select the “throne” seats, apart from top tier Miles & More elites, as SWISS already does
Similarly, there are already more private business class products with closing doors, such as JetBlue Mint Suites, Delta One Suites, and Qatar QSuites
Lufthansa's new business class will only be on a few of its aircraft by the end of 2024