Frankfurt Rhein-Main

I decided to skip the Arrival Lounge this time and instead head direct to the Senator Lounge near gate A 26. There is an additional immigration checkpoint for connecting passengers, which was emptier, than the one for passenger leaving the through the main checkpoint at concourse C. Why are only two (out of eight or more) what are staffed in the morning? The lines were long and I will definitively try to avoid Frankfurt whenever possible. This airport is becoming more and more a nightmare with the construction work and understaffed checkpoints.

I headed to the security check at the A concourse, where again long lines were queuing for security and I cannot understand why the Frankfurt security staff is unable to manage this. Like on my trip from Bangkok two weeks earlier, they open and close lines, direct passenger to full lines instead of empty and the security staff is worse than the one in the US.

I checked the shower list, but there were 12 people on the list who had not yet taken a shower and since I was not going to work this time, I just used the lavatories and head over to the full Senator Lounge. At least I was able to get a seat, picked some offerings for my late breakfast, took a paper and read the morning papers. As boarding time had come, I went to the gate A 24. This time we had a bus gate due to the construction work and had to use a bus to the plane. Among the passengers were a few deadheading crews from LH.

24 February 2009
FRA - DUS
[Frankfurt - Düsseldorf]
LH 806 (Lufthansa); Airbus A 321 (D-AISK / 'Emden')
Gate A 24
12:55 – 13:45 [effective 12:59 – 13:40]
Economy Class
Seat 16 C

Then plane was not very full and so the seat next to me remained empty.

The passengers in the row behind me were giggling the whole flight and this became really annoying after some time.

We pushed back with a slightly delay at 12:59 and taxied to the runway. We were airborne at 13:11 and on our short hop to Düsseldorf. This was the first time we used Startbahn West runway, which means we took off in the wrong direction and indeed we made a sharp u turn soon after take off. Not sure, why this was done.

The flight was uneventful, no service as usual, though some passengers seem to expect a service.

We touched down in Dusseldorf arriving from western direction at 13:40 and arrived at our gate at 13:43.

In comparison to my first trip on US this year, this time the crew was less attentive and the plane was dirtier and in worse condition. One could still fly them, if necessary and the fares are low, but if the next available full miles earning fare is less than 100 EUR more expensive, I will fly LH. But considering the fare, this was and is still a good value for money.

TOP