Lufthansa Allegris Business Class, Seat & Cabin

Designed to meet the needs of diverse passengers in a changing world, Pearson Lloyd’s Allegris Business Class seat and cabin experience was launched by Lufthansa in Spring 2023.

The Allegris business class cabin experience is rooted in a year-long, multi-faceted co-creation programme of primary research and ideation conducted by Pearson Lloyd and Lufthansa, alongside sector partners, which encompassed an over-arching industry review, individual passenger interviews, creative workshops, mega-trend mapping and creating new user profiles and future landscapes.

The research revealed that business class is no longer a one-note category for corporate travel. With more people in control of where and how they work, business travel has opened up to a broader user base of travellers who do not want to compromise their travel experience. These ‘master’s of space and time’ might be creatives or freelancers. They might be travelling solo, or with colleagues or families. They might be looking to relax, sleep, work, meet, or be entertained in transit. Given the multiplicity of user needs, a single-concept solution would no longer be enough.

A detailed process of prototyping followed. Six cabin layouts were built at 1:1 scale to evaluate user experience and ergonomics. Out of the research, a multi-seat layout was chosen, which encompasses seven different seat types in the Allegris business-class cabin design to reflect the varying needs of passengers.

All modes of transport are still dominated by single-concept business-class experiences. Innovation is largely limited to the cosmetic and ergonomic. Pearson Lloyd’s approach for Lufthansa encompasses not just the seat, but the complete traveller experience, maximizing flexibility to accommodate changing needs. The modular, multi-seat environment includes seven seat types that can be booked depending on the travel experience required – whether solo and working privately en route, or travelling sociably with others.

The Allegris business-class project is the culmination of years of research and ideation, and a 15+-year partnership between Lufthansa and Pearson Lloyd. The studio has a two-decade track record of ground-up innovation evolving and elevating long-haul passenger experiences across all modes of mass transport. 

To ensure the best possible passenger experience and minimise compromise where possible, Pearson Lloyd designed every seat to be bespoke to the aircraft that it is intended for. Over eight years, Pearson Lloyd built ergonomic models at 1:1 scale for each of Lufthansa’s long-haul aircraft: B747-8, B777-9, A350 and B787-9. Human-scale testing enabled Pearson Lloyd to ensure not only that diverse user needs were met, but also to maximise cabin efficiency, guarantee manufacturing efficiency, and optimise material and resource use in production.

The project, spanning seats, galleys and lavatories, includes the development of a completely new suite of colour, materials and finishes. Hard and soft, textiles and foils, the pallet builds on the classical blue foundation of the Lufthansa brand to bring to life the new Business class experience through texture, weave, pattern and colour.