Frankfurt Rhein-Main

I headed for the Welcome Lounge in the basement of terminal 1 and took a refreshing shower and changed clothes. After the shower, I not only felt but was refreshed. I took a seat and grabbed something to eat and drink and then later went slowly to the A concourse.

The lines at the security checkpoint were not long, and I passed security this time without the need for a manual search of my hand luggage.

After the long walk through terminal 1 concourse A I arrived in the Senator lounge opposite Gate A 26. As usual the lounge was crowded and it was difficult to find an available seat. Meanwhile the flight was showing 20 minutes delayed. Since the lounge was that busy, I decided to walk over to the gate A 14 for our flight.

Boarding started late, even later than it should have had according to the delay and the circumstance that we had a bus gate. As I boarded I got a new boarding pass, as seats had to be changed due to a plane change. We now had a Boeing 737-500 instead of the original scheduled Boeing 737-300

11 January 2010
FRA - DUS
[Frankfurt - Dusseldorf]
LH806 (Lufthansa); Boeing 737-500 (D-ABIO / 'Wesel')
Gate A 14
13:10 – 13:55 [effective 14: 31– 15:07]
Business Class
Seat 03 A

I was in the second bus and the second last person to board the plane. I nodded to flyertalker Rambuster on seat 01 C and stored my belongings in the overhead compartment and under the seat in front of me.

The plane seems to be full in Economy, but was not full in Business Class.

We were told that we had to wait a few more minutes, since the de-icing truck was not available. Finally it showed up but at the time we were de-iced it was already past our arrival time in Dusseldorf, as we pushed back at 14:16. It took some more time, before we reached the runway and took off for the short hop to Dusseldorf at 14:31.

The crew began the service and offered a roll, some tomato butter, some meat and a very small salad and a small slice of cake. I went for glass of sparkling water only.
As usual on this short ride, there was no service in Economy. I read in the paper I brought with me from the lounge. Soon, we began our descend into Düsseldorf Airport.

We landed over an hour behind schedule at 15:03 and taxied to our gate, where we arrived at 15:07. I was able to get off the plane quite fast. Fellow flyertalker Rambuster was waiting for me in the terminal and we talked while we both were heading towards the exit for people with hand luggage. Since I had to go downstairs, where I had arranged with my parents to wait for me, I said good bye to Rambuster. I have to admit, that I was a bit jealous, that he was leaving in three days for Bangkok, while I had to stay in cold Germany.


After my flights on Swiss and Lufthansa in Economy to Miami back in April 2009 I have how had the possibility to compare their Business Class products on longhaul flights to the US. The service was good on both flights and I have to admit, that this was by far one of the best service I have had experienced in Business Class on Lufthansa so far – especially by their Frankfurt based crews. On both airlines the purser or maître de cabin introduced herself (LX) and himself (LH). I was addressed by name and on LH more often asked if everything was okay. I was offered an espresso from First Class. Both crews were friendly, helpful and attentive, though on both flight the meal service took some time due to the full load in Business Class.

Like on the flights in Economy back in April 2009 I rate the inflight entertainment system higher on LX than on LH – and this time not only due to the lack of an AVOD system on LH's 747. The variety of films and music are wider on LX and also this might be a result of my personal preferences, I did not find any interesting music on LH while I had more options on LX. The radio channels are also good on LH, but the films are again better on LX than on LH. So again, I ask myself why I have not tried them earlier on  longhaul flights in Business Class.

However, I was told, that the Business Class seats on LX's Airbus A 340 sometimes have no foodrest – this time it was one of the two planes with foodrest. Both airlines did not offer lie flat seats and I am not sure if it makes a difference. If this are night flights and one really wanted to sleep, which I did not wanted to do on both flights, it will for sure be a difference.

Air France got mixed impression. The night flight was worse, but I think this was caused by my seat neighbour and also my tiredness. I also think the crew on the flight back was better and friendlier, than on the flight to Papeete, but both crews were more relaxed than on the most airlines flights I have had experienced so far. For sure, it was well worth to spent 50 EUR for the exit row, especially as I wanted to work and have more legroom.

Since Skyteam is not my favourite alliance, I will doubt, that I will fly them another time on longhaul in the near future, but there are worse airlines. However the attitude of the crew at the airport on Papeete must be not uncommon for Air France and this is definitively a down.

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