This flight report will be divided in two parts to be able to post all the photos involved. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

Flight LH 430 FRA-DXB
Aug 10th, 2013 3:20pm – 11:25pm
First Class, Seat 82H
Boeing 747-400

So this is it. The moment to try Lufthansa new First Class on the B744 had finally come. I have heard so many wonders about this product that I was really looking forward to it. The old First was very good, the First Class Terminal impressive… Now let’s see how this one fares!

After entering the plane I was directed upstairs, where a flight attendant escorted me to my seat. I had right away another example of LH’s great service: seeing me grabbing an Italian newspaper, the FA advised me of the other newspaper choices in my mother tongue. Excellent.


Upstairs we go. Picture taken in bad lighting with iPhone. Fail


Plane's license plate

I took the seat and champagne (Alfred Gratien, served – again – not in a flute!) and macadamia nuts were promptly served. Holy smoke! These nuts are good. No pun intended. They really were. I love macadamia nuts: plain, with chili, salted… but these ones had something extra that made them fancy and yummy at the very same time. What a great way to start a flight!


Lufthansa signature macadamia nuts and champagne. I want a flute!

While enjoying my pre-departure drink I took a good look around the cabin. Which other airline in the World offers you a seat AND a bed at the same time? To my knowledge, none. And it’s not hard to see why, given how much space it takes to do so. Lufthansa went above and beyond with this product which is the best first class configuration among the many dotting the vast LH fleet. Here are some pictures:


Seat + bed = bliss up in the air

The seat itself is very comfortable, spacious. The new TV in front of the seat is a huge improvement from the old TV and on par with some of the best first class TVs out there. While this is not a private suite, I enjoyed how airy and spacious it felt, although I must say it is overall an inferior hard product to Etihad’s First Class that I was about to try the day after. Nonetheless, I was a very happy camper.


New, large TV

The cabin was half full – together with me and the two Spaniards there was a fellow Italian sitting in First. How ironic, a first class cabin entirely composed by Italians and Spaniards… on a German airline.


Seat next to mine


View from my seat

Storage space was good, with a drawer under the bed spacious enough to fit my shoulder bag. A side storage in the armrest was enough for magazines and such.


Ample storage space


Armrest storage, found in the A333 as well


Remote control

I put myself at ease, enjoyed the take-off, grabbed a Campari & soda afterwards… and then jet-lag started to kick in.


A Campari & Soda to induce sleep

A note on the crew: the flight attendant serving me was very professional, and she definitely attempted to smile, which I appreciate. I found that the previous young flight attendant on the DFW-FRA portion of the trip was somewhat more genuine. But these are absolutely small details. The service overall was top notch on this plane as well.

The FA came by asking me what I wanted to eat, and I told her that I’d rather take a nap now and eat later, let’s say a couple hours before landing. She said: “no problem”, asked me what I wanted to eat so that they could keep it ready for me, and set off to serve other customers. I was really eager to see how efficient dining on demand would be.

The bed on this plane is really comfortable. The thick mattress makes it like a real bed. It was very easy to doze off for about three hours, enjoying the most memorable of sleeps. Since this is almost a real bed, sleeping was quite effortless, and I managed to get about 3 hours of rest.


Bed


Bed, take 2


Happy camper

Once I woke up, I ordered a Johnny Walker Blue Label on the rocks (just to wake me up, you know…)


JW Blue Label. Very good, but I still prefer Yamazaki

and told the FA that I was ready to eat anytime. How could I possibly still be hungry though… well, that’s a mystery and a theme that would recur throughout the trip.

Food part to follow...