More Allegris Planes for Lufthansa, 2 Airlines Enhance Wi-Fi, and Other News You Might Have Missed

This week’s round-up is a truly global affair. We’ve got exciting updates from Air France, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, and SWISS, as well as an intriguing development from Qatar Airways coming out of the Middle East.

Grab yourself a tea or coffee, and we’ll get to it.

Lufthansa Receives First Dreamliner With Allegris

Lufthansa has reached the next step on its long and drawn-out Allegris journey.

The German flag carrier has finally received its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner equipped with its highly anticipated Allegris economy, premium economy, and business class cabins. Sadly, these jets don’t feature the incredible Allegris first-class cabins.

Lufthansa expects to welcome 9 more Allegris-equipped 787-9 Dreamliners by the end of the year. The total order includes 29 of the aircraft type.

Moreover, the jets will be based at Frankfurt, which is significant as Allegris has only been available on Airbus A350 flights departing from Munich (MUC). The newest 787-9’s first destination will be Toronto (YYZ).

SWISS Upgrades First and Business Class Service

The Lufthansa Group continues to steal the limelight this week by unveiling SWISS‘s elevated business and first-class passenger experience.

The Swiss flag carrier is leveling up its premium cabin game on long-haul flights, which it hopes delivers a service you’d expect from top-class restaurants.

“After introducing our remodeled SWISS Economy and SWISS Premium Economy service products in March, we are now taking the next consistent step, with the most comprehensive service renewal in the history of our company,” said Heike Birlenback, chief commercial officer at SWISS.

In business class, the experience starts with a Swiss aperitif after take off, which is now accompanied by olives in addition to the traditional serving of nuts. Passengers will enjoy an expanded selection of cheeses, desserts, and pralines, as well as a wider range of drinks and snacks on offer between meals. In terms of comfort, SWISS has introduced new linens for sleeping and for flights of longer than 10 hours, new Muntagnart sleepshirts, and a seat cover for extra comfort.

SWISS has also made several tweaks, enhancements, and new introductions to its first-class service, amenities, and food and beverage offerings. It’s all part of the new SWISS Senses rollout. Watch this space for more on this, as I will be trying it out for myself later this month.

Air France Starts Starlink Wi-Fi Rollout With New Embraer 190

Air France is the latest airline to offer reliable high-speed Wi-Fi for its passengers in the sky.

The rollout of Starlink Wi-Fi started with the first flight of its fleet of Embraer 190 aircraft with all-new cabins, which flew from Paris (CDG) to Hamburg (HAM) on September 1.

What’s particularly exciting is that Air France will offer free connectivity to all its Flying Blue members when flying on an aircraft with the new Starlink Wi-Fi. Signing up for a Flying Blue account is free, and you can do so here.

However, Starlink has not yet been installed on any of Air France’s long-haul jets. We contacted Air France to learn more about the rollout but have yet to receive a response.

Once it’s live, this feature will undoubtedly favor Air France when U.S.-based travelers are choosing from the many airlines when planning a trip to Europe.

Cathay Pacific Now Offers Wi-Fi on 100% of Its Fleet

Staying on the topic of Wi-Fi, every Cathay Pacific aircraft now features Wi-Fi. This is a significant achievement, even in 2025, as many of the world’s major airlines still can’t offer Wi-Fi on all their planes. Every aircraft now also boasts seatback entertainment — another rarity at a time when it’s common for airlines to remove seatback screens on narrow-body aircraft to save money.

While having Wi-Fi installed on all aircraft is excellent for passengers, Cathay opted for Intelsat’s 2Ku satellite technology, rather than a super high-speed server like Starlink or the new Amazon Project Kuiper.

Unlike Air France (and several other airlines, even including Southwest), Cathay Pacific will continue to charge for Wi-Fi access, rather than offering it free. This is a shame for passengers and certainly makes the airline less competitive with passengers who see complimentary Wi-Fi as a deciding factor while purchasing tickets.

Qatar Airways’ Surprising All-Economy Airbus A321neos

Qatar Airways is a Middle Eastern airline that has been synonymous with luxury travel until now. That will change when it starts operating all-economy Airbus A321neo planes in October.

According to AeroRoutes, the Doha-based carrier will soon be flying 236-seat Airbus A321neos to Madinha (MED), Multan (MUX), Peshawar (PEW), Sharjah (SHJ), Sialkot (SKT), and Tbilisi (TBS).

Thankfully, these routes are all under 1,500 miles, meaning passengers who might be connecting to or from a Qatar Airways flight in first or business class won’t have to forgo their premium comfort for an extended period of time.

The airline should’ve started flying a version of the A321neo with premium cabins by now, but this was delayed due to a breakdown in relations with Airbus.

At this stage, it’s unclear how long these aircraft will fly for Qatar and when A321neos with premium cabins will replace them.

Atmos Rewards Exclusive Lounge Cocktail

August was a huge month for Alaska and Hawaiian with the unveiling of Atmos Rewards, their new combined customer-centric loyalty program, and accompanying Amtos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite^® Card.

Thanks to its generous welcome bonus, waived partner award booking fees, and other valuable perks and benefits, the card has quickly become a firm favorite here at Upgraded Points.

This week, we learned details of an interesting perk on the card: a special signature cocktail in Alaska lounges exclusively for Atmos Rewards Summit cardholders. While not a reason to get the card, it’s a unique offering that adds an extra bit of shine to this already compelling credit card.

Final Thoughts

This week’s news highlights that airlines worldwide are truly in their post-COVID rebound era, setting new standards with premium travel and technological advances like fast, free Wi-Fi. A minor exception to that rule would be Qatar Airways’ unseemly introduction of densely configured all-economy Airbus A321s.

As for the Atmos Rewards Summit card, if only there were a way I could open an account as a U.K. citizen…