Earlier this week, German flag carrier Lufthansa crossed a major milestone in the rollout of its Allegris Business Class on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: most of the premium seats are now open for booking for flights from April 15, 2026. This is a big deal because, since these new Dreamliners entered service from Frankfurt in October 2025, Lufthansa has been flying them with only 4 of 28 business-class seats certified for sale due to protracted regulatory approval delays.
Why has Lufthansa been unable to sell more seats?
Allegris is Lufthansa’s new, highly customizable long-haul cabin experience, designed around five different seat types — from classic lie-flat seats to private suites and extra-spacious options.
On the Boeing 787-9, the complexity of certifying each of these different seat configurations — some sourced from different manufacturers — slowed down FAA approval. Safety testing for head-impact and evacuation criteria between high-shell seats and those behind them required extra scrutiny. Lufthansa had hoped to achieve full certification sooner, but the carrier decided not to delay flying the aircraft entirely while waiting on regulators — hence the long stretch of flights with most business-class seats unsaleable.
Lufthansa Allegris
Lufthansa has not been the only airline affected by the FAA review. Recently, we saw Air India induct a plane with some seats blocked due to the FAA’s review not yet being complete.
The FAA mandates sufficient separation between seats and other cabin structures, along with an appropriate restraint system, to prevent passengers from sustaining serious head injuries or spinal damage during a crash caused by impact with the structure in front of them. Proof of compliance requires impact-force tests conducted before installation, but since this configuration varies at each seat, certifying so many different configurations is challenging.
Lufthansa offers various seat options in the Allegris business class cabin, ranging from “classic business class” to options with added privacy and extra-long beds. This cabin complexity required the regulator to review each alternate seat type separately for approval, rather than approving the cabin as a whole based on similarity.
What’s available now?
Thanks to recent progress in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval process, 25 of 28 Allegris Business Class seats on the Boeing 787-9 are now available for booking, with travel starting April 15, 2026. The three hold—out second—row seats remain uncertified for now and will stay blocked until regulators give final approval. Bookings for these seats are already open, and Lufthansa is selling them as part of paid and complimentary seat options across the business class cabin.
The airline currently has eight Boeing 787-9s equipped with Allegris, with 21 more aircraft on order. The airline expects to operate the entire fleet of 29 aircraft by the end of next year.
Jens Ritter, Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Airlines, said,
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!
According to Lufthansa, the airline has now obtained approval for most of its seat variants. Passengers can now book “classic seats” free of charge, or seats with additional comfort features for an additional fee beyond the airfare. Options include business class suites, “extra space seats” with more legroom, “privacy seats” by the window, and “extra long bed” seats with a 2.20-meter sleeping surface.
Lufthansa will operate the Boeing 787-9 with Allegris from Frankfurt to Austin, Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Cape Town, Shanghai, Hyderabad, and Hong Kong starting this summer. It will add flights to New York JFK and Los Angeles in June, followed by Delhi in July.
Bottomline
After months of limbo and long stretches with business-class revenue seats depressed to four per flight, Lufthansa’s Allegris rollout on the 787-9 is finally opening up to full-fare passengers. Booking 25 of 28 business class seats is a meaningful step toward unlocking the airline’s next-gen long-haul experience — even if three seats are still missing their stamp of approval.
What do you think of Lufthansa’s issues with the rollout of the Allegris cabin?
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