Here is Lufthansa’s new Boeing 787 business class

Lufthansa’s first Boeing 787-9 begins flying next week, and with it comes a new business class seat for the German flag-carrier.

Lufthansa's first Dreamliners take wing this month.

High flyers will see a spacious flatbed business class based on the familiar Super Diamond platform from Collins Aerospace – the same line as Air Canada’s Signature Class, British Airways’ doored Club Suites (although these seats come without a sliding door), Qatar Airways’ A380 and first-gen A350s and 787s, and American Airlines’ 787s and 777-300s.

Lufthansa's new Boeing 787 1-21 business class.

Each of the 26 business class seats on the Deutsche Dreamliners is fronted by an 18-inch HD video screen.

In addition to ample room and handy storage nooks for each traveller, the 1-2-1 layout offers the privacy and 100% direct aisle access which Lufthansa’s long-standing business class lacks.

Lufthansa's current long-standing 2-2-2 business class.

But there’s a caveat to all this: neither the plane nor the seats are ‘new’ in the usual sense.

Lufthansa’s first five Boeing 787s were previously built for China’s Hainan Airways, although financial difficulties mean the Chinese carrier never took delivery of the jets.

As such, these Lufthansa Boeing 787s all come fully outfitted with Hainan Airways seats from tip to tail, with the entire cabin dressed in the carrier’s “Dream Feather” interior developed by renowned UK-based design firm PriestmanGoode.

Lufthansa won’t be replacing those seats – it will simply re-dress them with fresh on-brand covering, along with some of the wall panelling, as can clearly be seen in this side-by-side photo of the business class cabins of the Lufthansa and Hainan Airways Dreamliners.

Spot the difference: the Boeing 787 business class of Lufthansa and Hainan Airways.

That’s the same approach as taken for its most recent batch of Airbus A350s, which similarly came from Philippine Airlines and kept PAL’s seats.

Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr has accurately described the first Boeing 787s as carrying “an upgraded business class compared to the current product”, while a Lufthansa spokesperson says the 787 seat “represents an important first step in improving our long-haul product as a whole.”

The upshot is that flying business class on Lufthansa’s twin-aisle jets could now see you in any of three seats: the ‘classic’ 2-2-2 business class on most of the fleet, or either of the 1-2-1 seats on the ex-PAL A350s and ex-Hainan 787s.

The latter two are intended to serve as an ‘interim’ business class, bridging the gap between the Star Alliance member’s previous-gen and next-gen seating.

fourth Lufthansa business class seat will be added to the mix in 2023, with factory-fresh A350s and 787s due to finally launch the airline’s long-awaited ‘next generation’ business class seat developed for the Boeing 777-9.

Lufthansa's fresh Boeing 777-9 business class design.

An innovative design sees alternative rows of 1-2-1 and 1-1-1, with those single middle seats being ‘thrones’ where solo travellers can enjoy even more personal space and privacy.

(Lufthansa has also spoken of charging extra for those desirable throne seats, and bulkhead row seats that convert into an extra-long bed, as part of its ‘business plus’ push.)

As previously reported, ten A350s to be based at Lufthansa’s Munich hub will also be graced by a small first class cabin.