The long awaited maiden flight of Lufthansa‘s new First Class is about to happen in less than two weeks time. The airline announced today that the first Airbus A350-900 equipped with the new seats (reg. D-AIXW) will make its inaugural commercial flight on Saturday, November 9. Ten minutes past noon, the plane departs from Munich to Bangalore. During its first weeks of service, D-AIXW rotates exclusively between Munich and India, with Mumbai being the second destination.
The following flights are confirmed to be the first feature the new cabin:
- November 9:
LH 764MunichMUC– BangaloreBLR - November 10:
LH 765BangaloreBLR– MunichMUC - November 15:
LH 766MunichMUC– MumbaiBOM - November 16:
LH 767MumbaiBOM– MunichMUC
Lufthansa has not announced any other specific dates. To get more information on D-AIXW‘s schedule, you can follow the aircraft on Flightradar under this link.
The German airline rolled out the new Allegris cabin design in economy, premium economy and business class earlier this year in May. However, Lufthansa had trouble getting the necessary certification for the first class seats. With that problem solved, all new Airbus A350s will be equipped with the new cabin class. The existing Airbus A350s will get retrofits in the following months, as Lufthansa aims to get all of them equipped with a first class cabin by March 2025.
Seats Available By Invitation
Since Lufthansa has not been selling First Class tickets for the flights in November, it will upgrade select passengers booked in business class to the brand-new section of the plane. The airline suggests that it will introduce the new seats to “its most loyal guests by invitation”. Which most likely means that HON Circle members and Senators have a chance to enjoy the new seats first. At the time of writing, it is not possible to buy non-stop tickets from Munich to Bangalore or Mumbai in Lufthansa’s highest travel class.
Because only a single plane is equipped with the Allegris first class cabin and equipment changes are not uncommon, it’s very risky to purchase a business class ticket and gamble on an upgrade. The Airbus A350 hosts a single row of four first class seats. These are equipped with sliding doors and absurdly large monitors, among other flashy amenities. The middle seats can be converted into a joined suite, designed for couples travelling together. It can also be occupied by a single passenger. You can find photos from a 2023 exhibition here.
Bottom Line
The largest German airline, Lufthansa, has taken another step towards modernizing its premium cabins. After introducing its new cabin design Allegris in the other three travel classes in May 2024, it finally got clearance for its new First Class seats. The first aircraft equipped with the seats will rotate between Munich and India in the upcoming weeks, starting on November 9. Other aircraft will be retrofitted until March 2025.
Cover Picture: © Lufthansa