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Lufthansa’s first Airbus A380 with the new business-class cabin is officially hitting the runway.
The first upgraded superjumbo jet entered service on Thursday, departing Munich International Airport (MUC) for Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as flight LH452. The plane, tail number D-AIMC, is scheduled to operate the return flight, LH453, on Thursday evening. According to FlightRadar24, the plane has not been scheduled for additional flights yet.
Lufthansa announced the upgrade plan back in February, detailing a new 1-2-1 business class configuration to replace the existing 2-2-2 setup on the A380.
However, the new seats — which feature Bluetooth connectivity and flexible partitions — are not Lufthansa’s flagship Allegris product. Instead, the airline picked an off-the-shelf product from seatmaker Thompson, which it customized slightly.
While the seats appear to be a significant improvement over the older product, there’s a catch: In order to give each business-class seat direct aisle access, Lufthansa reduced the cabin from 78 to 68 seats.
The upgraded cabin caps a remarkable reversal of fortunes for the superjumbo jet, which Lufthansa had initially planned to retire during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as lockdowns ended and the “revenge travel” phenomenon began with pent-up travel demand manifesting, Lufthansa returned eight of the double-decker behemoths to service starting in the summer of 2023.
The return was meant to be a temporary stopgap while Lufthansa awaited certification and delivery of Boeing’s next-generation 777-9 jet. However, ongoing delays in Boeing’s flagship commercial program have led to an extension for the A380, prompting Lufthansa to invest in the on-board product.
All eight A380s are expected to have the upgraded seats by mid-2027, Lufthansa said on Thursday. The fleet is based at MUC.
In addition to the new 68 business-class seats on the A380, the wide-body will continue to have eight first-class seats, 52 seats in premium economy and 371 in coach.
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