by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 27, 2018 | A380, Featured, Munich, Passenger Experience |
In 4 weeks (on March 25, 2018), Lufthansa will finally begin deploying their A380s in Munich with flights to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Beijing. Though that is not ‘new’ news, LH did provide an update today regarding the logistics at the airport when it comes to gates and security screening. Considering the A380 can carry twice the amount of passengers as the typical long-haul planes LH currently uses in MUC, it was obvious that certain things needed to change at security screening and the gates that LH will use for the A380.
According to Lufthansa, the A380 will use gates H47 and H48 located inside Terminal 2, and gates L11 and L13 that are located in the new Satellite terminal. In addition, gates L24/26 and L28/30 are retrofitted with a 3rd passenger bridge that will give passengers direct access to the upper deck.
Munich Airport and Lufthansa have also adjusted the security screening process to make it a bit easier to get through security and to the gate as a result of having substantially more passengers boarding the A380 as compared to other aircraft that usually use Terminal 2 and the Satellite Terminal.
Current plans call for LH to utilize 5 A380 aircraft in Munich to cover these initial routes.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 16, 2018 | Featured, Josie, Lufthansa, Munich |
Lufthansa introduced their newest ‘hire’ today in Munich when it unleashed ‘Josie Pepper’ in Terminal 2 to help arriving passengers. Coming in at just under 4 feet tall, she is Lufthansa’s newest powerhouse designed to help passengers find their way around the ‘airside’ part of Terminal 2. Whether it’s help finding a lounge, a partcular restaurant, or help in finding a gate, Josie’s sole objective is to make sure passengers get the answers they need.
Josie is an English-speaking marvel designed jointly by Lufthansa and Munich Airport and is their first foray into introducing ‘Artificially Intelligent Robots’ into an airport environment. For Josie’s first few weeks on the job, she’ll focus primarily on passengers that are transiting between the main terminal and the new satellite terminal. These first weeks will gauge her effectiveness and will give LH and MUC a chance to gather feedback from the public that interacts with her.
According to LH, ‘Josie’ is not a simple computer that recognizes generic questions and replies with pre-formatted answers. In fact, she is a product of the IBM Watson platform and is capable of learning as she goes, and can interact with passengers far beyond answering basic questions. In fact, Josie is expected to get smarter and smarter the longer that she stays on duty in the Terminal.
Here’s a short video courtesy of Munich and Lufthansa that shows Josie in action……
I’d be curious to hear any feedback from anyone that asked her for help…….
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 28, 2018 | Featured, Lufthansa, Munich, Security |
Lufthansa announced that it has begun what it refers to as expedited security screening for certain flights that depart from Munich at certain times of the day.
Specifically, the new program called ‘Smart Depart’ creates an expedited security process for flights departing Munich for Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, and Frankfurt during peak travel times. The nature of this program allows the gates for these flights to be located closer to the security check points in Munich’s Terminal 2 and dedicated check points will only process passengers flying to the cities listed above.
The program will be available on weekdays only, between 6a and 8:30a, and between 4p and 6:30p.
To locate these special checkpoints, look for the ‘Smart Depart Fast Lane’ signage when approaching security.
