Lufthansa to keep the 747 flying with new first, business class
The Queen of the Skies is getting a jumbo-sized upgrade.
By David Flynn, August 6 2025
Lufthansa remains a stalwart champion of the Boeing 747, with 19 of the mighty jumbo jets in its fleet.
And while most airlines have long retired this Queen of the Skies, Lufthansa sees plenty of life left in its mighty Boeing 747-8s,
Now the German flag-carrier is preparing to upgrade the 747 from tip to tail with its latest Allegris family of seats – including their private first class suites, innovative business class beds and comfortable premium economy recliners.
However, Lufthansa also faces a jumbo-sized headache when it comes to the unique challenges of the upper deck ‘hump’ – and for a while, it’ll see the 747-8 outfitted with two completely different business class seats.
Lufthansa's new Allegris business class cabin.
The main deck will contain the same modern Allegris business class seats now flying on the Airbus A350.
But upstairs will retain the current business class seats, arranged in the same 2-2 layout, until Lufthansa can roll out a customised version of Allegris business class designed for the hump’s pronounced curvature.
Lufthansa's 747 upper deck business class.
Lufthansa’s new 747 business class
“We’re going to start this year with pulling the first aircraft out of service and installing Allegris,” Lufthansa’s Chief Customer Officer Heiko Reitz told Executive Traveller during a media briefing in Munich earlier this year.
However, the refit will be carried out in two very separate stages: one for the main deck, and the other for the upper deck
“The 747 is actually two aircraft in itself,” Reitz suggested, with a twin-aisle main deck and a single-aisle upper deck.
“We’re going to start on the main deck first… for economy, premium economy and business class to have the new Allegris experience.”
However, the upper deck will have the older and markedly inferior business class, along with the familiar open suites in first class – and it’s in this unique ‘split personality’ mode that at least the first few 747s will return to the skies.
“The upper deck is its own cabin, which needs a separate process for installing and certifying these seats.”
“So in the second step we’re going to introduce Allegris in the upper deck and in first class,” Reitz confirmed, arguing that this approach was faster than waiting for the upper deck products to be developed and certified before the 747 went under the knife.
Upstairs, downstairs on Lufthansa’s 747
This means that for some as-yet-undefined period, Lufthansa will be selling two very different business class experiences on the Boeing 747-8.
Could the airline end up discounting the upper deck business class cabin, to reflect that stark difference?
“It’s early to say,” Reitz admitted, although he indicated that choosing the superior Allegris seats could – at least in the early days – be a matter of “first come, first served.”
“In general, we try to make it as convenient and easy as possible to book a seat on Allegris… first of all, we use something which is very known to the customer, which is a paid seat reservation.”
“And on our webpage, we make (it) very clear for the customers: how does the seat look? We have pictures of it, you can really see it.”
Lufthansa's innovative Allegris business class cabin layout.
When those 747s roll back into the hangar for stage two of their overhaul, Executive Traveller understands the Allegris business class upper deck will be similar to the ‘outboard’ or window-adjacent rows of the downstairs cabin.
This will begin with the popular Allegris Suite, followed by alternating ‘classic’ (aisle-adjacent) and ‘private’ (window-adjacent) seats, and ending with a bassinet seat.
Expect the 747's upper deck to include two of these Allegris business class suites.
The unique geography of the Allegris layout won’t permit ‘throne’ or ‘extra legroom’ seats.
Lufthansa’s new 747 first class
As for the new Lufthansa 747-8 first class, this will also be a bespoke treatment based on the new Allegris first class suites featured on the Airbus A350s and forthcoming Boeing 777-9 jets.
Lufthansa's Allegris first class single suite.
Each Allegris First suite is framed by 1.8m-high walls and includes a personal wardrobe so that travellers can change into and out of their pyjamas, with space under the ottoman for stowing a standard-size cabin bag.
There’s also an oversized middle suite which can be shared by two passengers.
Lufthansa's Allegris first class double suite.
The customised 747 cabin is being developed by Lufthansa Technik’s VIP aircraft team which specialises in the five-star fit-out of private jets.
“The nose section (of the 747-8) is what makes it quite interesting and challenging,” Lufthansa’s Heads of Customer Experience Kai Peters has previously told Executive Traveller.
“Customers really like the nose section, it’s very private, it's very much a club atmosphere, and that's why we decided on keeping (first class) there.”
Lufthansa's current 747 first class cabin.
“But our Allegris first class is a little bit boxy” compared to the curvature of the nose, he admits, resulting in made-to-measure 747 First suites, which “will be optimised because of the different shape” of the jumbo jet’s first class cabin.
"We developed a suite concept with Lufthansa Technik (because) you need to find the perfect layout and the perfect way to fit it in there.”
Also read: Here is Lufthansa’s new A380 business class
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Sep 2017
Total posts 171
David, will there be a decrease in the number of 1st suites, or the same?
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2582
Hi JKH - Lufthansa hans't shared any specific details on that, but I would expect to see fewer suites than the current eight (which is six along the windows of the cabin, three per side, and a pair in the middle at the rear of the cabin).
It's basically going to come down to the size of the new 747-8 first class suites vs the unique footprint of the cabin, which is narrow to begin with and of course sharpens into the nose of the plane.
30 Aug 2013
Total posts 443
I suspect they will charge a seat assignment fee for all Allegris seats, while allowing allocation of the Upper Deck seats for free. That seems like a pretty fair and simple way to do it.
On a daytime flight traveling with someone else I'd prefer the upper deck older seats anyway. Sitting upstairs on a 747 is still such a cool experience.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 865
Does anyone know the reason why the upper deck isn't used exclusively for First Class? I'd have thought it was just as quiet as the nose where First is now.
20 Oct 2015
Total posts 279
That's actually a really good idea, it would be much easier to design and build F product for this space compared to the nose, because you have the same floor shape, cabin width and wall curvature all the way along. You could just have one suite on each side of the aisle, instead of the two seats they have today.
There are 16 'doubles' of business class seats up there now, so if you had one first suite where there are two seats and allowed extra space in the length of the suite, so you have the same seat+bed layout which LH F used to have years ago, and this takes up almost the same space as two rows of J, maybe 1.5 times the length, you might end up with 12 F suites?
But that's a lot of F capacity and maybe the market isn't there, while you are also losing a lot of J capacity compared to the much smaller nose of the 747. This is probably what it comes down to, like always, the 'economics'. But I like your idea for sure!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 488
There was a time, back in the late 80s/early 90s, when some Qantas B747 aircraft did have F class on the upper deck. But when the 747-400s arrived, F was solely on the main deck, and there it has stayed ever since.
01 Jul 2024
Total posts 4
@Boeing-Tragic
@Gold4Life
It sounds genius, but it's un-doable with today's first class suites.
First class have gotten taller, wider and longer, with the unique curvature of the upper deck, it will be impossible to fit and Alegris type suite there or an EK GameChanger suite. Putting a first class cabin in the upper deck will feel very cramped and claustrophobic.
The best use of the space I believe will be premium economy, 50-56 seats can be fitted in the space
29 Aug 2017
Total posts 27
i've flown on the upper deck in the old QF 747's and it was an amazing experience. I'd do it again, given the opportunity.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Mar 2016
Total posts 60
A bit surprised they didn't put economy on the upper deck and used some economy cabin for a bigger main deck business class cabin to keep the entire business class cabin consistent. I remember some old 747's had economy on the upper deck and I am pretty sure i did a flight on BA between Sydney and Singapore or Bangkok.
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