Continuing to pursue a multi-source approach to inflight entertainment, Lufthansa confirms that Safran Passenger Innovations (SPI) provided the sparkling new nose-to-tail embedded IFE for its first Allegris-fitted Airbus A350-900, which will be pressed into service on Munich-Vancouver on 1 May.
SPI also supplied the companion displays in the Allegris business class cabin aboard the A350-900; these touchscreen devices, mounted in each seat shell, allow passengers to control their entertainment and seat, and manage their thermal environment.
Notably, the SPI hardware will support all other A350s slated to receive Allegris, Lufthansa Group senior director Paul Estoppey told Runway Girl Network on 25 April during a gala event to celebrate the unveiling of Allegris aboard the A350-900 at the Lufthansa Hangar Munich.
Front row (business-plus) and throne seats in the business class cabin on the Allegris-fitted A350-900 each feature a 24” 4K IFE screen from SPI, whilst all other business class seats have an 18” 4K screen from the supplier.
Biz-plus will in time sell for a premium. Among other amenities, it features a 24″ IFE screen, seen here from SPI aboard the A350-900. Image: Mary Kirby
Though the pivot to SPI for IFE on the A350 represents a departure for Lufthansa, whose current A350s fly with Panasonic Avionics IFE, the German carrier continues to spread the IFE love around. It intends to fit its Boeing 747-8s with Panasonic’s new Astrova IFE system as part of their refurbishment with Allegris. Lufthansa will also retain core components of the current Panasonic embedded IFE system on its Airbus A380s but will update the screens.
The 747-8 IFE install deal is part of a broader refurbishment that will see Lufthansa bring its Allegris longhaul cabins — including first, business, premium economy and economy class — to the aircraft type. The arrangement may sound familiar to Runway Girl Network readers. After all, in 2022, Lufthansa selected Panasonic’s NEXT system for the -8s. But Estoppey told RGN in Munich that Astrova is coming to the 747-8s.
“On the 747-8, we’re going to change [IFE] completely, but it will be Panasonic,” he said, confirming that Astrova will be installed. “That’s the new one, the one on the 747-8.”
Astrova is Panasonic’s fastest selling IFE system of all time. Image: Panasonic Avionics
Lufthansa’s planned A380 retrofits, meanwhile, are less extensive as the carrier intends for the super jumbos to exit its fleet by the end of the decade (the A380s are not in line for Allegris, though the carrier assures an “all-aisle access” business seat is coming to the type to tide it over until retirement). “We still fly the Panasonic system. We’re just going to change the screens to new ones,” explained Estoppey of the A380’s lighter refit.
As previously announced, Lufthansa’s forthcoming Boeing 777-9s will feature Allegris, and the Rave Ultra IFE system from SPI. The carrier’s in-service A330s and A340s have SPI (formerly Zodiac) Rave IFE screens installed; these are not in line for Allegris updates as the A340s will be retired and the A330s will be woven into the larger Group operations, Estoppey said. Lufthansa’s 747s are also in line to be retired in the coming years.
RGN has not yet learned which supplier is providing IFE for Allegris-fitted 787-9s; the first is expected to arrive before year-end.
A mix of IFE suppliers makes sense for a big airline like Lufthansa, Estoppey told RGN. That’s very much in sync with mainline Lufthansa’s multi- source approach to aircraft seating under its massive Allegris program, with no fewer than five seatmakers — plus Lufthansa Technik — delivering seats to the program.
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Featured image credited to Mary Kirby
