Lufthansa in advanced talks with Boeing on larger 787-9 business cabins

What Spohr said

Spohr said Lufthansa is also examining its premium economy layout and could replace some economy rows with more premium economy seats. He said the intermediate cabin has performed strongly, making a higher allocation commercially attractive, Aviation A2Z reported.

The group had 27 Dreamliners outstanding at the end of September 2026 and 26 after one October delivery, all still on the production line, so changing the specification before handover would avoid retrofitting cabins after delivery, according to nomadlawyer.org.

Why Lufthansa wants bigger premium cabins

Lufthansa's Allegris 787-9s carry 28 business seats, 28 premium economy seats and 231 economy seats, 287 in total, according to Simple Flying. The A350-1000 it still awaits will have 49 business seats, according to nomadlawyer.org. Aviation A2Z reported that Lufthansa has sometimes deployed the 787-9 on routes intended for the larger A350-1000 and 777-9, creating a premium capacity mismatch. Premium cabins on these jets routinely sell out weeks in advance, forcing Lufthansa to turn away corporate travellers, nomadlawyer.org reported.

The airline originally planned to use the 777-9 and A350-1000 on its densest business routes, including Frankfurt to New York JFK, Chicago O'Hare, San Francisco and Tokyo Haneda, but the 777-9 has been delayed until at least 2027 and A350-1000 deliveries are unfolding gradually, nomadlawyer.org reported. That has pushed the 787-9 onto routes where its 28 business seats fall short of demand.

Certification has held back the cabin

Lufthansa took delivery of its first factory-fresh 787-9 in late August 2025, after delaying acceptance from Boeing for months, according to paddleyourownkanoo.com. It flew the jet with nearly all business seats unavailable. Until March 2026 it could sell four business seats, the front-row suites, on each aircraft. Lufthansa announced on 16 February 2026 that it would begin selling 25 of the 28 business seats from 15 April, Simple Flying reported. The FAA certified those 25 seats in March, a month early. The first flight with 25 of them occupied ran Frankfurt to Toronto on Sunday 15 March 2026.

The FAA had to certify five separate seat designs with different features, approving each one on its own. Collins Aerospace makes the 787 seats. Thompson Aero supplies the same Allegris product on the A350, which has flown with the seats fully occupied since 2024. Lufthansa has not explained why the three remaining seats, in row two, are still outstanding.

What happens next

Spohr said Lufthansa hopes to secure approval for the remaining three seats before the end of 2026. The Boeing talks concern aircraft still on the production line, avoiding the cost of retrofitting cabins after delivery, nomadlawyer.org reported. Lufthansa has not disclosed how many incoming Dreamliners could receive the larger layout or how many additional seats it would contain, Aviation A2Z reported.