Lufthansa’s Allegris redefines comfort – your way
This is a special feature from PAX Tech’s June 2023 AIX issue on page 24.
Predominately designed for couples, the seats recline to make a 1.4m double bed (PriestmanGoode/Lufthansa)
When Lufthansa Group unveiled its Allegris long-haul product in October 2022, it did so proclaiming that it was the dawn of a new era. With a focus on individual well-being and seven different seating configurations in business class alone, the Group is truly putting the passenger at the heart of the journey.
In financial terms, Allegris is part of the largest product and service overhaul in the Lufthansa Group's history, with a total investment of 2.5 billion euros (approximately USD2.75 billion) by 2025. For the passenger, it’s the simultaneous improvement of the travel experience in all classes and the replacement of more than 27,000 seats.
To deliver this new experience for passengers in Economy, Premium Economy and First Class, Lufthansa’s Group turned to long-time collaborator, London-based design agency PriestmanGoode.
As Daniel MacInnes, Director, PriestmanGoode explains to PAX Tech, the “voice of the customer was key in the Allegris project. Lufthansa listened to customers across the entire project to ensure their needs were captured.”
Daniel
MacInnes,
Director,
PriestmanGoode
The customers they turned to were the “Senators” — members of the upper tier of Lufthansa’s Miles and More reward scheme, whose feedback supported the direction of the project. Lufthansa engages regularly with these customers and they were invited to the preview of the suite in March of this year.
Allegris was the agency’s 25th project for the Lufthansa Group, which has included previous projects such as the A380 interior including seats, monuments and cabins, for all classes in 2010.
Importantly, there has been continuity in the studio team working for Lufthansa Group across the years, a valuable quality when approaching any project of such magnitude. “Having a clear understanding of the target experience and defining key principles are vital for the success of a project of this scale,” says MacInnes.
To this end, at the beginning of the Allegris program, Lufthansa’s design team provided PriestmanGoode with an image of a high-end interior that summed up the desired outcome — one of a warm interior, with high-quality materials and finishings plus comfortable and iconic furniture etc. — the ultimate home interior.
In the early stages of any project, PriestmanGoode’s design team spends a lot of time reviewing trends and often there’s an image that helps explain the client’s requirements. MacInnes say this became an important reference point, one all involved described as “more like home than an aircraft.”
“For the First Class Plus suites in particular, we pledged ‘no aviation parts’ so the cabin was the equivalent of an interior setting that the passenger might enjoy at home or in a high specification vehicle,” he says. This means, for example, there are no overhead lockers or traditional air vents, and the window blinds are electronically controlled.
The Allegris First Class Plus sits in the middle of the First Class
cabin and is a private mini-suite (PriestmanGoode/Lufthansa)
A team of five designers at PriestmanGoode were dedicated to the Allegris program and worked together with the Lufthansa team for a year.
During that time the brand team at Lufthansa launched a new brand identity for the Allegris cabin that sought out highquality, meticulous workmanship, premium details, authentic and high-quality materiality and situational design. These elements provided context for the Colour, Materials, Finish (CMF) team, but they also described the intended experience which was about making people’s lives easier and better.
“Our team sought premium materials with a consistency in colour across each of the cabins but with variation in detailing, texture and other tactile contrasts that varied by cabin,” says MacInnes. As the agency explains further, the result is a stylistically confident use of all design elements and balanced colour compositions that complement each other atmospherically, tone-in-tone or through contrasts in colour quality or colour temperature.
Designing for success
When it enters service in 2024, Lufthansa’s Allegris will bring a First Class cabin to an A350 fleet for the first time. In achieving this, the project members faced a number of challenges. The design team found ways to achieve A350 certification for the high walls of the suite and the soft panel close-outs which are essential for privacy and acoustic properties, as well as the double occupancy of First Class Plus Suite with single access — a first on any aircraft type. Due to safety regulations, the walls of the suites do not run all the way from floor to ceiling, but they are much taller than other products, to ensure total privacy.
The in-seat heating and colling takes
its inspiration from the automotive
industry (PriestmanGoode/Lufthansa)
First Class Suite Plus is a single, separate central suite cabin, that offers a separate double cabin with ceiling-high walls and an entirely closable door, large table and two wide seats that can be combined into a comfortable double bed if required.
“This project aimed to deliver outcomes never seen before,” MacInnes states.
One challenge met was the translating ottoman that not only provides storage, but also offers a true double dining experience with comfort for both diners. The ottoman sits directly under the 4K video screen facing the passenger and has its own seatbelt (to double as a second seat). It also tracks forward.
Rounds of prototyping and testing continued throughout the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. During this time, the project team benefitted from the latest technologies in CGI and Visualisation with the agency’s in-house team creating VR assets to help decision making at board level and numerous workshops.
“For the First Class Suites, everything was designed and sourced uniquely for Lufthansa,” MacInnes says. “Nothing was adapted from existing cabin interiors elsewhere.”
The First Class suites launched in Berlin on February 28. When asked to identify some of the standout features from the Suite, MacInnes responds, “There are so many! From the room feel of the space, the double bed width in the Suite Plus, the bespoke lamp and lighting. One of my personal favourites is the customized seat comfort, all controlled by the passenger with heating, cooling and shoulder sink all cleverly concealed within the seat [one metre wide]. The kinematics are exceptional with recline positions that are the best I’ve ever tested.”
Premium details
Passengers will also be able to connect their personal devices to the large, 43-inch, 4K-quality monitor, with wireless charging and the best sound thanks to wireless, noisecancelling headphones.
As Jens Ritter, CEO Lufthansa Airlines explained at the launch of the First Class Plus Suite, “The Allegris range promises individuality, exclusivity, and premium service along the entire travel chain.”
The First Class, which up to 3.7 m² are among the largest in the world, will be introduced in 2024.
In addition to the three First Class suites on the A350, the seat configuration includes 38 seats including eight suites in Business Class, 24 seats in Premium Class and 201 seats including 22 seats with more legroom in Economy Class.
According to Lufthansa, passengers will be able to request a gourmet meal at a time of their preference, although further details of the service have not been announced.
Describing the Allegris product, Ritter exclaimed that “Every guest has their own understanding of premium, which is why we focus on maximum individuality and exclusivity.”
