William Agius

Here's the link to the photos.

INTRODUCTION
I’m on my way to Malta for this year’s edition of the Malta Marathon. I shall be running the half-marathon with a distance of 21.1 kilometres, which is in fact longer than the width of the island!

I confess I’m a bit of a wuss, I’ve never been able to bring myself to run a full marathon. That’s still one for the bucket list. But I digress. Again. So yes, last year I flew with Lufthansa via Munich and I must say, I was hardly impressed. But given my recent, rather positive experiences on SWISS, I figured I might as well give Lufthansa another chance. There’s also that fact that their schedule is the most convenient for my purpose.

GETTING TO THE FRANKFURT
Just to give Lufthansa a bit of a head start, I shall not regale you with a full trip report of the Basel to Frankfurt sector. Suffice to say it was not so nice. My biggest complaint is the aircraft. Those Canadair RegionalJets really are stinkers! Everything is really tight and cramped and the bins are simply too small for all the hand luggage people take on board these days.

LUFTHANSA BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE ON CONCOURSE A
The bus from the aircraft to the terminal ejects me somewhere in the bowels of the A concourse of Terminal 1. From here I take the stairs one floor up and make my way to the Lufthansa Business Class lounge.

The lounge is nicely designed and very bright, using a lot of white paint and light wooden panelling. The views of the apron are quite spectacular too, despite those pesky stripes that run along the width of the windows.

It’s just too bad there isn’t any place left to sit. There are people everywhere and I’m left wondering if all these good men and women really have nothing better to do on a Saturday morning than hang around an airport lounge. But it doesn’t matter. I only have about 15 minutes in the lounge before it’s time for me to head for gate A 36, from where the flight will be boarding.

BOARDING
Only, getting to the gate may prove to be a bit trickier than I thought. The queue of passengers for Schengen emigration is so long that it’s blocking access to the A concourse, which is in the opposite direction from the non-Schengen area. But eventually, after a long stream of ‘uh…sorry…hello…’tschuldigung…was that your toe, sorry…excuse me’ I finally get through and reach my gate just as boarding is about to start.

THE CABIN
Today’s flight is operated by an Airbus A 321. I am seated on 2F, which is a window seat on the starboard side of the aircraft. On this side of the aircraft, row 2 is the first row of Business Class, there is no row 1. Whereas on the opposite side there is.

The leg space is excellent on the bulkhead row. Other than that though, the seat is very hard, with little or no cushioning and – and I know I keep saying this – the grey metallic finish of the panelling really makes the cabin look rather dark and gloomy.

In total, there are 14 Business Class seats on this service. Occupancy is at 50%, with six human beings and a rather regal looking feline who looks as though he owns the aircraft. And Lufthansa actually…

SERVICE & CREW
The maître de is a woman in her fifties, I should say. What strikes me about her is the eloquence and ease with which she makes her announcements. It seems unrehearsed, but it comes across as being very polished, charming and approachable.

The service only begins really once the aircraft is airborne. Until then, unlike SWISS or KLM, there is no welcome drink, refreshing towel or anything of the sort.

THE MEAL
Once the fasten seatbelt sign is turned off, the meal service begins. Despite the fairly long flight time of two hours and fifteen minutes it is obviously not foreseen that there should be a drinks service before the meal.

I ask for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a glass of still water. I’m thirsty and finish the juice off straight away. The maître de notices at once and quickly tops up my glass. She’s very attentive but without hovering over you like a horsefly, as some of them sometimes do.

The meal is cold and consists of:
• a very nice yoghurt, the content of which I was unable to make out, save for the slice of orange and the pistachios,
• a plate of cheese,
• a plate of cold meats,
• a bowl of fruit,
• a selection of buns and croissants that are served warm and nearly burn your fingers,
• the bread is served with unsalted butter and Hero strawberry jam,
• cream, sugar and a towl are also on the tray.

As the flight attendant passes through the cabin with the bread basket, she encourages the passengers to take as much as they like, insisting that there’s really more than enough. All in all, the meal is rather tasty and hits the spot nicely.

ARRIVAL
It looks like it’s my lucky day today. Landings and take-offs are towards the north, which means that passengers seated on the starboard side of the aircraft are treated to a spectacular view of the island.

The airport is fairly busy when we arrive, but seeing as I only have hand luggage, I’m already on the X2 bus to St. Julian’s within just 15 minutes of landing.

5 Star Airline – I don’t think so…
So what about my Lufthansa experience? First of all, to be fair, I think I should say straight away that this experience was by far much more agreeable to the flight from Munich to Malta last year. Where last year’s crew were a right bunch of nasty old witches, this lot was a more accommodating and willing to interact in a professional and friendly way with the passengers. On this flight I actually felt welcome, and not like I was a burden.

On the down side, and I know this is something Lufthansa has only limited control over, the experience on the ground in Frankfurt really is a nightmare. The airport is a rat hole, with long journeys by bus to and from the aircraft, seemingly endless corridors to walk along and people everywhere that make it difficult to get through.

The inflight product on the other hand, is something Lufthansa very much can control, which makes it all the more unfortunate that precisely this is the carrier’s weakest point. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with what passengers are offered on board in Business Class, it’s just that it’s quite obvious that every attempt has been made to cut costs. I don’t in principle think there’s anything wrong with that. After all, the airline is accountable to its shareholders. But even so, I think the passengers should never be allowed to see the cost cutting.

Other than that, throughout today’s flight there was a constant stream of passengers coming through from Economy Class to use the forward toilet. And quite frankly, I don’t blame them, given that the crew left the curtain between Business Class and Economy open throughout the flight and actually encouraged passengers to use the forward loo. Again, this is in itself not a big issue. But it certainly makes me wonder wherein exactly Lufthansa sees the selling point of its European Business Class product: it’s not the lounges, because they’re too full to be enjoyed anyway; it’s not the catering; and the seat is the same one they have installed in the back of the bus. Which leaves what exactly?

So in the sum of all things, yeah this flight was not bad. But honestly, if anyone at Skytrax seriously thinks Lufthansa is deserving of its 5 Star ranking, then I suspect they probably also still believe in Father Christmas.

ironmanjt

I'm sorry, but you're judging Lufthansa business class on an A321 and a CRJ? That's regional business, and no European airline does that well.

offerendum

True! Best seems to be Air Serbia.....

tom tulpe

While they're still around, being as they are in their current incarnation a product of James Hogan's (failed) Etihad "hunter" strategy.

LH are one of the few European network carriers that have been profitable for most of the last 25 years. You don't do that by offering lie-flat seats on shorthaul planes, or chauffeur services for anyone in C (see also: British Airways).

redadeco

Looking at the title I was expecting feedback on long haul service, intra-european service is average except for JU or on IB's old 319.

soliloquy

My flight from CLT to MUC to TLV and back again was outstanding. Better than any airline I've ever flown. Maybe their product is less appealing on non-intl flights.

offerendum

MichaelBaku

BSL/FRA and FRA/MLA are International flights.

soliloquy

I realize that and I apologize for that brain to finger mixup. I meant that it's not a long haul flight...not crossing over the pond...not leaving the EU. I am so sorry I made you have to correct my post by bolding and underelining. LOL. Quick posts don't work here and precision of language is required. Got it.

redadeco

TLV gets narrow bodies and so do BEY, CAI, GYD, AMM... all of these are 4+ hours long, BA makes a big difference on these routes by sending wide bodies or lieflat-equipped A321s.

:D!

FRA-ZRH is a flight leaving the EU

tom tulpe

As is ZRH-LUX. 30 mins in the air.
And LUX-FRA is also an international flight, one where - depending on which apron position the aircraft has in LUX an FRA - you will spend more time on the bus to the plane and taxiing, than in the air.

Business class still gets a snack and a drink on either of these. And yes the seats are what SFO777 tends to refer to as "Euro-fraud". Would I book a flight that will take place in December 2018 with LH or LX? Yes I would. Would I book (and pre-pay) on Air Serbia? No bloody way.

soliloquy

Now I feel sheepish. No more skimming posts for me.

William Agius

Originally, when I booked this trip I should have returned from Malta to Basle via Frankfurt on Sunday. However, about a month before departure I noticed, quite by accident, that the flight from Frankfurt to Basle had vanished. A quick call to Lufthansa told me that there had been a schedule change and as a result, I would just miss the minimum connecting time in Frankfurt.

I then suggested to Lufthansa to rebook me from Frankfurt to Zürich on the Monday morning flight at 06h35. Like that I would not miss the appointments I had already scheduled for the Monday. I also told them I was willing to spend the night in Frankfurt at my own expense. But instead, what followed was a lengthy and tedious discussion which entailed multiple phone calls and mails to and from Lufthansa, in which they a) claimed that I could not have an open jaw ticket because my fare did not allow it – even though they were the ones who made the schedule change, b) later on agreed to rebook me, but then claimed that apparently the 06h35 flight to Zürich did not exist, c) then, once they had miraculously found the flight again, noticed that the original RBD was no longer available and therefore, d) insisted I pay the fare difference, which of course I refused.

Eventually, I managed. Once that was done, I tried to reserve seats for my partner, who was joining me on this trip but travelling on a separate PNR. It was impossible for both of us to make a seat reservation via the app or the website. So I called Lufthansa again to make a seat reservation, which worked well, we even both received an e-mail confirmation. Even so, none of the reservations were honoured on any of the four flights on this booking. And no reason was given for this either. At least the check-in agent in Malta was able to change the seat reservation so that eventually we did manage to sit together on the leg from Malta to Frankfurt.

But then the crowning turd in the water pipe occurred this morning on the flight from Frankfurt to Zürich. Just to give you a run down of what happened exactly: first we had a rejected take-off (it happens and I don’t blame them for it); then we returned to a stand where we waited for over an hour for a bus to pick us up; then nobody was able to give us any correct information once we returned to the terminal building and the information that was provided at the service centre/gate was contradictory and ranged from allegedly being rebooked onto the later flight to being on the same flight but operated with another aircraft – which was quite simply unprofessional; then, once the flight was finally ready for boarding again, the door to the airbridge got stuck and could not be opened; and finally, because of the door issue, we missed our slot and they kept us waiting on the plane for 40 minutes before we were eventually allowed to move off stand. Eventually I made it back to Zürich four hours behind schedule.

My point is, we all have our personal preferences about the airlines we like and the ones we don’t. And there’s not point in arguing about personal tastes. But irrespective of personal tastes, from the experience I had with Lufthansa before and during this trip to Malta, I just fail to see what on earth is supposed to be 5 star about this kind of service?

fly747first

Have you flow Air Serbia, Aeroflot, or Turkish? They all do European business extremely well.