Transfer in Frankfurt

The flight from Zürich terminates at Frankfurt’s A concourse. It’s 20h30 and boarding for my flight to Dublin has just started. I’m a bit concerned that the crew of the previous flight did not announce my departure gate before landing.

The departure to Dublin will be from the B gates in the non-Schengen area of Terminal 1. And that, of course, means that I am going to have to take the dreaded underground tunnel.

Much to my surprise, though, the airport is rather quiet, and so I make good progress on my way through the long halls and corridors.

I arrive at my gate with ten minutes to spare before the flight closes. This must be one of the quickest transfers I’ve ever had.

The Cabin

Another seat change from 36 C to 3 F lands me in the Business Class section again. The Business Class cabin is quite large, with seven rows. While it’s not sold out, it certainly has a high occupancy.

On the starboard side of the aircraft, row two is the bulkhead row. The seat pitch on 3 F is great, with plenty of room to spread out.

Unlike the previous flight, the cabin of this aircraft has some extra storage on the middle seat, in the form of a small extra tray table. I really wonder what it’s for, though. Apart from the fact that it looks a bit grimey at close inspection, it’s not really useful and just creates some extra dead weight.

The Service & Crew

There are no packaged towels or still water as I reach my seat. In fact, there is zero interaction with the crew before departure. However, later on during the service, the crew turn out to be professional and friendly. They remain active in the cabin throughout the flight and the service is provided with a smile and excellent interactional skills.

The Meal

Once we’re through the clouds, the meal service begins. I’m relieved to find that it’s not meatballs again this time. Instead, it’s a salad with quinoa and a piece of meat – of course. They really are a bunch of carnivores…

I’m not sure what the dessert is, because I don’t try it. But I give it a suspicious sniff and it smells faintly of coffee.

The meal is not very good, honestly. There isn’t even any dressing for the salad. Also, if you’re not eating the meat, it’s quite frugal.

I think what I am most surprised by is the huge difference between this meal and the meal that was offered on my previous trip to Dublin a while back with SWISS. But perhaps I overestimate the amount of coordination between Lufthansa and its subsidiaries.

After the meal, I request a coffee with milk from the crew, to which she replies, “UHT oder Kuh”? Eh, say what now? It turns out what she meant was “regular milk or UHT”, and not “UHT or cow”. We make a joke of it, and when she returns a while later to ask if I’d like a refill she simply asks me, “darf’s noch eine Kuh sein” – can I get you another cow?

Arrival in Dublin

The flight time to Dublin is one hour and forty minutes, which sees us arriving just slightly ahead of schedule. For a change, the weather in Dublin is quite nice, which gives us some gorgeous views as we’re coming in to land.

Conclusion

In summary, the trip via Frankfurt was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I’d been dreading this trip. However, it really was quite painless despite the delay.

Lufthansa was okay on the first flight from Zürich, although I do think the crew could have handled the situation better. On the second flight, though, the crew were quite lovely. Shame that the food was a bit of a let down.