Toronto Lester B. Pearson International

As I arrived in the domestic terminal of Toronto's Pearson Airport from my flight from Montreal, I looked on one of the screens for the departure gate of my flight to Düsseldorf.

I followed the signs to a hidden escalator to the second floor where I had to pass a few checkpoints and were allowed into the international part of the terminal. On the way, I had a very good view to the tarmac and I also saw the plane which would bring me to Düsseldorf later.

I entered the Maple Leaf Lounge, which was close to the gates, where the flight to Düsseldorf left. I was greeted at the entrance, Star Gold Card and ticket were checked and I was on my way in the lounge, where I took a seat. The food offerings consisted of pasta, a choice of beef and vegetable tortellini with two different toppings. There were also a selection of vegetables and olives available. The beverage offered consists of soft drink, but also white and red wine as well as gin, whiskey and other spirits.

I made a few calls and read a bit in one of the magazines. A few minutes prior to boarding I headed downstairs for the gate.

Boarding had not yet started but did so with families travelling with small children and elderly people and those who needed some more time to board the plane.

There were two lines, one for First and Business Class Customers and one for Economy Class Passenger. People holding Star Gold Status were allowed to use the Business and First Class Line.

As boarding started, the agent checking boarding passes also checked if one was holding Star Gold Status and verified the print on the boarding pass.

07 June 2010
YYZ - DUS
[Toronto Pearson Airport – Düsseldorf International]
LH 473 (Lufthansa); Airbus A 330-300 (D-AIKD / 'Siegen')
Gate 171
16:35 – 06:05 [effective 16:56 – 06:05)
Economy Class
Seat 30 K

I was among the first passengers in the Economy Class Cabin and stored my belongings and took a seat in the exit row. The plane filled with passengers and it seems that there were only one or two seats empty in the economy class cabin.

Across the aisle was a mother with two childs who were very vivid, but quiet.

The registration of that plans sounds somehow familiar to me, but I am not sure, if this was due to the name of the city of Siegen or of the registration. I later discovered at home, that I flew on this plane back in March 2008 FRA – JFK, but I had been in the aisle seat on this flight. It is funny, if you notice, that you have been on this plane already. But at this time, it was not yet named. The plane was named Siegen in October 2008, which was half a year after I have been on it..

Boarding was soon completed, much faster than I have expected. The captain came over the microphone and informed us, that we had to sit on the tarmac for close to 50 minutes to avoid flying waiting patterns in Düsseldorf, where a touch down before 06:00 is not allowed.

The safety video was shown and we waited for the push back. We were pushed back at 16:56 and taxied to the runway, but waited there for another 25 minutes before we finally took off at 17:21 and climbed into the partly cloudy sky. Nevertheless we had again great views towards downtown Toronto.

After 15 minutes, the crew left the jump seats and headed to their positions. As usual a first beverage round was done along with some pretzels. A hot towel service soon followed.

The items were collected and after a quick visit to the lavatories, I took my laptop and put some work into this trip report.

Approximately 45 to 50 minutes after take off the dinner service started with the choice of either beef or pasta. I decided not to eat on this flight and only opted for a glass of water and worked on my trip report.

Trays were collected later and than the usual rush for the lavatories started. Luckily the most passengers did not invade the legroom of the exit row too much.

Since I became tired, I decided to shut my laptop down as I had updated the trip report to this point and tried to get a little bit of sleep. It seems, that I was able to sleep in intervals for around two hours and I woke up as the lights were turned on 90 minutes prior to our arrival in Düsseldorf. We still flew with more than 900 km/h in 37000 feet over Great Britain, as the breakfast snack was delivered. The small box consists of a small fruit salad, a blueberry muffin and some cinnamon crackers. I opted for a glass of water and a coffee with the snack box. The items were not that bad, but also nothing really special.

I was again not addressed by name and as far as I noticed the flight attendant had no passenger manifest on the cart. The crew was not that good, they did their job, were more or less friendly but nothing special. From listening to the chatter of two flight attendants, they were partly Düsseldorf and partly Frankfurt based crew members.

The items were collected later and the crew began to prepare the cabin for the arrival. Fasten seat belt signs were switched on quite early and also the announcement was made, that the use of portable electronic devices was no longer allowed.

On our descend into Düsseldorf we passed the Lower Rhine Area with Goch, Xanten, Wesel towards Essen and approached Düsseldorf from Eastern direction and touched down as the first of the three morning longhaul arrivals from the US at 06:01. We taxied to our gate A 88 and I noticed that the flight from Newark had also touched down and was now leaving the runway and taxiing for the gate.

I tried to be up as fast as possible, because with two morning arrivals, border control could mean a few minutes waiting time. So I tried to hurry up, passing Business Class and towards the second door. Border control was luckily empty and I catched the skytrain at 06:19, the last possible skytrain to catch the 6:28 train to Duisburg where I had one minuted to catch my bus home. Everything was running as smooth as possible this morning and I arrived at my flat an hour after I had disembarked the plane.

Overall a nice trip an seeing airoli in Montreal and driving to Ottawa was for sure the highlight. Also the start was nice with an operational upgrade on the domestic flight, as bad was the off loading of the flight MUC – YUL, especially since this means I lost my exit row seat. Luckily the Munich based crew was nice and offered a really good service and kept me happy, but I think, I have t thank rcs85551 and his HON status for this service.

The AC flight was really great and I will see, if I can try them more often in the future. The lounges of Air Canada are nice and the planes are not that bad either. The flight back to DUS was not so good. The crew was average or even below that with no personal greeting and doing their job in a way, a frequent flier notices that they are only doing the basic things. Okay, the plane was full, but they worked and there were no smiles and no personal word for the status guests and even not beverage round.

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