The Night Time Is The Right Time…..For Lufthansa Plane Spotting in Frankfurt!

The Night Time Is The Right Time…..For Lufthansa Plane Spotting in Frankfurt!

Two weeks ago,  I was flying from Michigan to Johannesburg via Chicago and Frankfurt which created a very nice and lengthy layover in Frankfurt between my inbound flight from the US and connecting flight to JNB.   This routing gave me a unique opportunity take in plane spotting at night when Lufthansa sends a few of their long haulers to Asia and Africa.

On typical trips, I arrive in FRA during early morning hours and my departures for the States typically take place by early afternoon.  Having a 10:00p departure from FRA gave me an opportunity to see LH aircraft in a different light, or lack thereof….

While waiting for 10p to roll around, I ‘abandoned’ my wife to the capable hands of the Senator Lounge and set out to walk the length of Concourse Z which is typically where you’ll find most of LH’s long haul activity, especially at night.    Fortunately the glass was clean enough and glare was manageable so that the pictures actually turned out quite well.

 

Enjoy!

 

an airplane at an airport

747-8i, D-ABYL, ahead of her flight to Hong Kong

 

an airplane at an airport

Another look at ‘Yankee Lima’

 

an airplane at an airport

D-AISL, an Airbus A321, would head to Amman, Jordan

 

a plane at an airport

D-AISR, an Airbus A321, would head off to Bucharest, Romania.

 

an airplane at an airport

D-AIGO, an Airbus A343, would head off to Qingdao-Shenyang

 

an airplane at an airport

This would be our ride to Johannesburg. ‘D-AIMB’ aka Munchen is an Airbus A380, and is outfitted with the fantastic new Business cabin…..

 

an airplane at an airport

Another look at ‘Michael Bravo’

 

an airplane at an airport

D-AIMF, or ‘Zurich’ would head to Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

LUFTHANSA Long Haul Changes Part IV:   A330 / A340 Updates

LUFTHANSA Long Haul Changes Part IV: A330 / A340 Updates

In this final installment that covers Lufthansa’s recent announcement concerning the Long Haul Fleet for 2015, I look at changes taking place to the A330/A340 fleet.   If you missed my previous posts concerning these updates here are the links:  PART I (747-400) , PART II (A380) , PART III (747-8i).  For the new seating charts reflecting Premium Economy across the fleet, please visit this post containing all the maps.

 

 A340-300:

 

Starting with the A340-300, beginning on April 27, cabin configuration will change from 42 Business / 225 Economy to 30 Business / 249 Economy seats on the following routes:

Frankfurt – Atlanta

Frankfurt – Bangkok (On June 3 will change to 30 Business / 28 Premium Economy / 221 Economy)

Frankfurt – Chennai

Frankfurt – Dallas

Frankfurt – Dubai

Frankfurt – Kuala Lumpur (On June 3 will change to 30 Business / 28 Premium Economy / 221 Economy)

Frankfurt – Montreal (Beginning on July 3)

Frankfurt – Nagoya (On June 3 will change to 30 Business / 28 Premium Economy / 221 Economy)

Frankfurt – Nanjing

Frankfurt – Philadelphia (Beginning on April 29)

Frankfurt – Shenyang

 

For A340-300s that are based in Dusseldorf, they will switch on May 4 from 42 Business / 225 Economy to 42 Business / 28 Premium Economy / 181 Economy seats on the following routes:

Dusseldorf – Chicago

Dusseldorf – Newark

 

A340-600:

 

Turning to the A340-600s in the fleet, several changes are in store for the routes they fly:

 

Beginning on May 14, A340-600 flying on the following routes will change from 8 First Class / 56 Business Class / 217 Economy to 8 First Class / 44 Business Class / 245 Economy Class seats.  Then on June 15 the cabin configuration will change to 8 First / 44 Business / 32 Premium Economy / 213 Economy seats:

Munich – Boston 

Munich – Chicago

 

The A340-600 will debut a 4 class cabin (8 First / 44 Business / 32 Premium Economy / 213 Economy seats) on May 12 for the following routes:

Munich – Beijing

Munich – Los Angeles

Munich – Mexico City

Munich – Newark

Munich – San Francisco

Munich – Sao Paulo

 

Beginning on July 27  the same cabin configuration will debut on:

        Munich – New York (JFK)
Beginning on August 20 the same cabin configuration will debut on:

Frankfurt – Bogota

Frankfurt – Detroit

Frankfurt – Tehran

 

For certain Premium Economy Routes that are scheduled to start in January from Munich, there will be a minor cabin layout adjustment.   Initially these A340-600s will be configured with 8 First / 56 Business / 28 Premium Economy / 189 Economy seats.   The cabin layout on the following routes will change to 8 First / 44 Business / 32 Premium Economy / 213 Economy seats:

Munich – Tokyo (HND) beginning on March 29

Munich – Hong Kong beginning on May 14

Munich – Seoul(ICN) beginning on May 14

Munich – Shanghai beginning on May 14

 

A330-300:

 

The A330 – 300 seating chart will change on May 1 from 8 First / 48 Business 161 Economy seats to 8 First / 36 Business / 193 Economy seats for the following routes.

Munich – Boston (Until May 15 when a 3 class A340-600 take over, followed by a 4 class A340 on June 15)

Munich – Charlotte

Munich – Dubai

Munich – Mumbai

Munich – New York JFK

Munich – Riyadh

Munich – Toronto

Munich – Vancouver (beginning May 14)

Munich – Washington Dulles

I know that this is a lot of information to digest, so in the event that you need more details or a deeper explanation of the changes and how they may impact your travels, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

a close-up of a plane