by Lufthansa Flyer | May 30, 2014 | Featured, Plane Spotting |
Over the past 2-3 weeks I spent quite a bit of time in Frankfurt since I had two trips to Europe within that time frame. One trip was dedicated to the Hamburg-DO and the other was a quick 72 hour trip which included the fantastic Lufthansa Caipirinha flight to Rio de Janeiro.
During my days and layovers in Frankfurt, I made it a point to spend as much time as possible on the Observation Deck in Terminal 2 so that I could add to my collection of Airliner photos (over 7,000 now). The observation deck in Frankfurt is situated in such a way that you get up close to some interesting carriers and unique liveries.
For this post, I’ll focus on airlines that most of us do not normally see on a regular basis, along with carriers who are sporting unique liveries to commemorate a location or special event.
Coming up over the next few days I’ll add dedicated plane spotting posts for Lufthansa as well as for cities that I visited during my Hamburg-DO trip which included Zurich, Hamburg, Munich and Istanbul. There may be a few shots from Rio and other places as well! Lots of pictures to sort through and process.
For now, enjoy some one these unique and interesting Airlines that were photographed on May 25 in Frankfurt:
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 24, 2014 | Airports, Featured |
According to this piece from Reuters, Frankfurt Airport is under threat of yet another strike from its employees. Ver.di, the union representing these employees has suggested that a strike is imminent and will take place on Thursday due to the lack of progress in negotiations with the airport operating authority. This comes on the heels of a strike last month when security screeners decided to walk off the job creating significant delays and cancellations for travelers transiting FRA.
I could not find any other details regarding this recent announcement, but no doubt that we will hear more as Thursday nears. This is the 4th or 5th strike that I can recall in this year alone that is affecting air travel in Europe. You would think that the EU would somehow figure out a way to intervene and prevent these antics from becoming habits. I guess this is what happens when the inmates run the asylum…….
And by the way, Italian Air Traffic controllers are still promising a strike on March 30th.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Mar 3, 2014 | Featured |
Lufthansa has loaded into its reservation system specific flights where passengers flying on an A380 will find the new Business Class cabin. The update only goes through early April which is normal since LH does not assign specific aircraft to specific routes too far in advance.
Additionally, a new A380 is joining the fleet (D-AIMK) with the new Business Class cabin already installed so there will 2 A380s with the new Business Class cabins in service.
You’ll see below that they are really spreading around the 2 A380s so that a wide variety of cities will get a look at the new interior.
Here is the schedule (Frankfurt Departures so return flights on these days will have new cabin as well):
March 30: LH 400 (FRA-JFK), LH 720 (FRA-PEK)
March 31: LH 720 (FRA-PEK), LH 778 (FRA-SIN)
April 1: LH 778 (FRA-SIN)
April 2: LH 440 (FRA-IAH)
April 3: LH 440 (FRA-IAH), LH 728 (FRA-PVG)
April 4: LH 572 (FRA-JNB), LH 728 (FRA-PVG)
April 5: LH 572 (FRA-JNB)
April 6: LH 462 (FRA-MIA)
April 7: LH 400 (FRA-JFK), LH 462 (FRA-MIA)
April 8: LH 400 (FRA-JFK), LH 720 (FRA-PEK)
April 9: LH 720 (FRA-PEK), LH 778 (FRA-SIN).
Of course route rotation will continue beyond these dates and more A380s will see the new cabin over the coming months. I’ll provide updates as best that I can.
H/T: FlyerTalk’s Oliver2002 (Lufthansa Thread).
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 20, 2014 | Airports |
Another month, another strike in Europe.
This time, the union representing Security Personnel at Frankfurt(FRA) is calling on 5000 members to walk off the job tomorrow (February 21, 2014) in protest to protracted labor negotiations. The Union is seeking a €3 Euro/hr raise for their members from their current hourly rate of approximately €10.
The strike is expected to last from early morning through the evening and will involve security personnel working in baggage screening and general terminal security.
Lufthansa has suggested that flight operations may be affected by this strike and that delays and cancellations are possible.
If you are flying to FRA today or tomorrow, you should research to see what options are available to you as alternatives.
You can check your flight status tomorrow by using this link.
Additionally, you should check you booking (CLICK HERE) to see if Lufthansa has not already rebooked you or provided you with options to help avoid a potentially tough travel day tomorrow.
I’ll update this later if anything changes. To get the info as soon as possible, please follow me on twitter, @LufthansaFlyer since I may not have time to put together an actual post.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 10, 2014 | Airlines |
Lufthansa has now made it possible for passengers on long-haul flights to use their mobile devices to connect to terrestrial friends, family and others using their existing service provider.
Currently installed and available on a handful of A330 aircraft and others, the service will be made available ‘long-haul’ fleet-wide by the end of the year. The early phase of this rollout will cover flights serving North America and the Middle East.
The technology is provided by AeroMobile, who has contracted with over 200 mobile phone service providers worldwide to make this possible. It is integrated with Lufthansa’s existing FlyNet service.
However voice calls, Skype, Face Time and the like will still not be permitted aboard LH flights. This service will simply allow passengers to use their mobile devices to text, surf the internet, check emails etc.
The pricing of access will depend on your service provider. It will be considered ‘Data Roaming’ which can carry significant charges. Charges will be billed directly by your service provider and added to your normal bill.
