Transfer in Munich

I just landed in Munich from Dubai on a Lufthansa A 350-900. It’s 12h45 and we’re running fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. My departure to Paris is at 15h45. The transfer security checkpoint is not very crowded. More importantly, unlike the dreadful staff in Frankfurt, this lot is quite friendly and helpful. Behind security, I make my way to the Senator Lounge. It’s only as I’m about to take off my jacket that I realise I haven’t gone through immigration yet. I’m still in the non-Schengen area. So, I inquire with the friendly lounge receptionist, who kindly gives me instructions to the G concourse, from where the flight to Paris will be leaving.

No sooner have I settled in the lounge in the Schengen area, I notice on the departures screen that there’s been a gate change and my flight will depart from K07, which is in the satellite terminal. Fine, at least like this I get to see three different Senator lounges.

Boarding

Boarding for the flight starts at 15h15, on time. There’s also been an aircraft change and instead of an A 320 NEO, the service is now operated by an A 319.

The Cabin & Seat

The flight is not full in Business Class. There are three rows, for a total of 12 seats. However, I’m the only passenger in the forward cabin. The seat pitch on row 1 is not exactly generous, but still good.

The Service & Crew

The cabin crew on this flight are all female. The maître de is a matronly type. She’s rather funny and has a kind, hearty laugh. She brings me a bottle of still water and welcomes me to the flight. Once boarding is completed, she returns to inform me that I’ll be alone in the forward cabin, just in case I would prefer any other seat. She tells me, “ich hoffe Sie werden sich nicht einsam fühlen”, that she hopes I won’t get lonely all by my lonesome.

The Meal – Late Lunch

The flight time is seventy minutes. We take off into the wintery haze. A few minutes later, the service begins. On the tray is a plate with smoked trout with apple, potato salad, radishes and horseradish cream. This is a nice, light meal. And not a meatball in sight. With that, the crew serve warm rolls. For dessert, there’s a chocolate mousse cake or something, which I don’t try because it just looks a bit too heavy.

After the meal, the crew first pass through the cabin with a basket filled with small Lindt chocolates in a yellow Lufthansa wrapper. This is followed by a box filled with Ferrero Rocher.

Arrival in Paris CDG 1

Very soon, we begin our descent into Paris. The cloud cover is deceiving because it seems as though we’re still fairly high up. But then the flight crew extend the slats as they start slowing down the aircraft to its approach speed. The landing gear is lowered with a loud rumble and a thud, we enter into the clouds, and moments later the runway lights come into view and we touch down.

We land on the northernmost runway and slowly taxi to our stand at the Schengen satellite of CDG Terminal 1.

My suitcase arrives after a surprisingly short wait. And for a change, the RER B train into the city is even working today!

Conclusion

So, about Lufthansa. I think I have to accept that I’ll never be a fan. However, this trip made me realise that it’s not necessarily that Lufthansa is any worse than other airlines. I think it’s just that I don’t really get their corporate culture and their way of doing things. I think it’s also very clear that theirs is a mass product that does not necessarily strive for excellence, but simply to efficiently process large masses of people travelling from one place to another – which makes them very similar to British Airways from my perspective as a passenger.