Lufthansa’s disastrous rollout of next-generation Business Class seats on its fleet of brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliners is finally turning the corner… after months of flying the planes with all but four premium seats blocked out, the German flag carrier is confident that certification is nearing.
So confident, in fact, that Lufthansa has just placed most of the other seats on sale for flights departing from April 15 onwards.
The airline took delivery of its first factory-fresh 787 Dreamliner in late August 2025 after keeping them grounded for months while it waited for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to complete safety certification of its bespoke Business Class seats.
When the partial U.S. government shutdown delayed the certification process even further, Lufthansa couldn’t wait any longer and decided that it would just start flying the planes, with most of the Business Class cabin unavailable for use.
Of the 28 Business Class seats fitted on these aircraft, only four of the larger Business Class Suites at the very front of the cabin have been available to book, as these are the only seats currently certified for passenger use by the FAA.
Lufthansa has 34 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on order as part of a plan to replace its ageing fleet of gas-guzzling Airbus A330-600s. The first deliveries were expected at the end of 2024, but FAA concerns stemming from crash testing with the Business Class seats delayed the rollout.
Even now, the seats have not been officially certified, but after reaching some “important milestones” in the certification process, Lufthansa is increasingly confident that the seats will be certified by mid-April.
Even then, however, not all the seats are expected to be certified. The problem is that Lufthansa’s new Business Class cabin, known officially as Allegris, isn’t just one seat but five different designs with various features that all need to be certified separately.
As a result, three seats in the second row of the Business Class cabin still aren’t likely to be certified by April 15.
The reason hasn’t been explained by Lufthansa, but it’s likely down to their position behind the larger Business Class Suites in the front row that have a much higher wall surrounding them.
Lufthansa’s 787-9 Dreamliners have already been flying between Frankfurt and Austin, Bogota, Hyderabad, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, and Toronto.
In the next month, Lufthansa also plans to start flying the plane between Frankfurt and Hong Kong, while New York JFK and Los Angeles will be added in June. Finally, flights between Frankfurt and Delhi will be operated on Allegris-equipped 787s in July.
“Our guests love Allegris,” commented Jens Ritter, the chief executive of Lufthansa Airlines. “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.”
Lufthansa has been flying its Allegris Business Class seats on its Airbus A350-900s since 2024. Why it has taken so long for U.S. regulators to certify the same seats that are already in use on another aircraft type remains unclear.
One reason could be that the seats used on the A350 are manufactured by Thompson Aero, whereas the same seats on the 787 Dreamliner are made by Collins Aerospace.
Last month, Lufthansa sent the first of eight Airbus A380 superjumbos to be outfitted with new Business Class seats, but the airline has decided not to use its Allegris seats on these planes and has instead opted for an off-the-shelf product known as Vantage XL.
Lufthansa admitted one of the reasons behind this decision was certification issues – the Vantage XL already holds the necessary certifications for use on A380s, whereas the Allegris seats would need to go through a lengthy and costly certification process that could keep the planes grounded for months upon months.
