Lufthansa to retrofit A380 business class starting in February

Lufthansa will begin a retrofit program for the business class cabins of its Airbus A380 fleet in early February, upgrading all eight remaining aircraft with new premium seats.

The work will be carried out at Elbe Flugzeugwerke in Dresden. The first aircraft scheduled for the conversion is the A380 registered as D-AIMC.

The retrofit will introduce new business class seats supplied by Thompson. Each seat will feature direct aisle access, a seat width of 58 cm, and a fully flat bed measuring at least two meters in length. The new layout will result in a total of 68 business class seats on each A380.

Lufthansa said the cabin upgrade is covered by an existing certification, allowing the installation to proceed without an extended regulatory approval process. As a result, the airline expects the first retrofitted A380 to enter commercial service within weeks of completing the work.

In addition to the business class upgrade, the aircraft will retain eight first class seats, 52 seats in premium economy, and 371 seats in economy class. The A380 remains the largest aircraft type in Lufthansa’s fleet.

Routine maintenance checks will be performed alongside the cabin modifications while the aircraft are at Elbe Flugzeugwerke. The first retrofitted A380 is scheduled to return to Munich in April and resume regular operations shortly thereafter.

Lufthansa expects all eight A380s to be fully retrofitted by mid-2027. The airline had previously operated 14 A380s and had planned to retire the type, but later reversed that decision. Six aircraft were ultimately sold back to Airbus, leaving eight jets in active service.

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