I’m on my way home from giving a course here in Luxembourg. I exit the Novotel Kirchberg just after 9 in the morning. The hotel is located more or less midway between the Philharmonie and Europa Parlament tram stations. The final stop of the tram is currently Luxexpo, where I change to the airport bus. From there both the lines 6 and 16 run to the airport. The whole trip takes about 30 minutes.

At the Airport

I’ve already checked in online. I was considering dumping my suitcase at check in so I won’t have to cart it around. But the airport is busy today. Both security checkpoints are open. And the queues are long. By the time I’m through security it’s 10:10, so I figure I might as well skip the lounge and park myself by the window until boarding starts.

Boarding

Boarding for the flight eventually starts just after 11h, which is when we should have departed. I’m not sure what’s going on, but there are several passengers complaining about being downgraded from Business Class to Economy. Once I’m seated and boarding is finished, the captain comes on to inform us of thunderstorms near Zürich, which have resulted in a serious reduction of capacity in Zürich. We’re now not expected to leave before noon.

The Crew & Service

There are three cabin crew on this flight – all of them female. The purser and the young lady helping her out are great. Very friendly and genuine. The third is also nice, although communication is hindered by her not speaking German and having only little functional English. As soon as I take me seat, I’m brought a bottle of still water and a packaged towel. To while away the time until we can start up, the crew distribute chocolates, which is never a bad idea. I must say that the crew, including the cockpit, interact very well with the passengers, keeping us updated about the situation in Zürich, the delay and possible missed connections.

The Meal

To eat there are two small open sandwiches and a dessert. One sandwich is tuna mousse with capers, and the other is cheese and mustard. Both are good, but the dessert is something else! It’s a chocolate cream on a chocolate biscuit base and some fruit coulis on top.

To drink with that, I have a coffee and sparkling water.

Arrival

The flight time to Zürich is just over 40 minutes. By the time we taxi in and come to a stop on a remote stand near the hangars it’s just coming up 13h. Apparently only passengers to Geneva ended up missing their connection.

From the aircraft we are taken to the terminal by Business Class shuttle. Of the six passengers in Business Class, I’m the only one without a connecting flight. And on Monday we do the whole thing again in reverse…