Lufthansa Cargo has launched a GREAT contest to kick off a strategy that will see all of their aircraft “carry” their own name. Much like Lufthansa passenger, Cargo will over time christen each aircraft with her own identity. To begin the process, Cargo’s new contest is open to everyone to submit their absolute best ideas for a name for one of their MD-11 as well as for the 5 Boeing 777’s that will begin to join the fleet in October (5 will ultimately enter service).
Lufthansa Cargo has set up a dedicated page on their website that allows you to register and list your entries for each of the aircraft currently in service. You are also asked for some detail behind the motivation for the names that you have recommended. You need to provide names for at least 10 aircraft in order for your entry to be eligible.
With that said, the prize for this contest is fantastic!
The Winner, who will be selected by a Lufthansa Cargo panel, will be flown to Frankfurt and be a VIP guest of Cargo for the welcome ceremony for the first Boeing 777 Freighter. You’ll also be among the very first to sit “behind the yoke” during your private tour of the cockpit. It is at this time that the new 777F will be christened with her new name.
To enter the contest, please visit Lufthansa Cargo’s contest webpage. You’ll need to register. Once registered, you will be able to access the contest and you’ll see a listing of all of Cargo’s aircraft, and a space next to each tail number where you enter your best idea. Remember, you need to provide at least 10 names in order to be eligible.
Think outside the box for this, think about fantastic travel destinations, mythology, legends, etc.
There is no right or wrong answer here, just one that will earn you a trip to Frankfurt and see your creation painted on the side of a brand new aircraft!
Over the last few weeks, Lufthansa has begun to refine it’s already excellent onboard dining experience with upgrades to Cutlery, China and other related items. You’ll notice onboard that the cabin crew will have completely new serving utensils; including new pitchers for beverages, pepper grinders, coffee dispensers etc. The changes aim to make the dining experience on board more like the experience that you would have in a high quality restaurant.
Passenger China, Glassware and Silverware have been updated as well. For First Class passengers, gone are the wire towers that held your appetizers. They have been replaced with a serving platter that will contain all 3 appetizers that are typically availabe. Additional the Caviar Service will be it’s own course and no longer combined with appetizers. Business Class passengers will also notice obvious improvements to dining hardware and menus.
These changes apply to First and Business Class international routes as well as in Business Class on short and medium-haul flights within Germany and Europe.
2 days ago, Lufthansa released a video highlighting the changes that you can expect going forward:
This installment covers several photos taken standing near the midway point of Runway 18. It was a good location because smaller aircraft would begin their rotation here and larger aircraft were at full speed and the noise was FANTASTIC! 🙂 There are many more photos taken from this spot that I will add to Aero-Shots.com in the coming weeks. I just have about 5,000 photos to sort through at this point….
Not too many more things to be said on the topic, so go ahead and enjoy the pics!
This themed ADRIA CRJ-200 carries a MINI market promo wherever she goes…..
Condor’s Boeing 767-300 D-ABUD
Lufthansa’s A330 D-AIKD ‘Siegen’
Lufthansa’s CRJ-700 D-ACPL
Lufthansa’s CRJ700 D-ACPO
Lufthansa’s 737 D-ABEA
Lufthansa’s 737 D-ABEH
Lufthansa’s 2nd 747-8i D-ABYC (There is no ‘D-ABYB’ as a memorial to an older 747 that was lost)
Lufthansa has launched a pair of fare specials targeted specifically for US travelers for travel to Poland or Italy.
In my opinion the better of the 2 deals is for travel to Poland where fares start as low as $769 for travel between New York and Krakow. The fares reach into the mid $1100’s if you are traveling from Lufthansa’s West Coast gateways or from Houston, otherwise most fares are sub $1000 making them fairly attractive.
The other part of the fare sale covers Italian destinations including cities such as Florence, Catania, Genoa, Pisa, Rome, Venice and others. Fares for this sale range from the low $1100’s from East Coast gateways to the mid $1300’s if you are flying from the west coast. Still attractive fares, but not as attractive as the fares to Poland.
Granted that Italy may be the better value since their is a bit more to see in Italy as a tourist than there may be in Poland, but a “miles earning” standpoint, Poland fares provide better from a “cents per mile” perspective if you’re into measuring that metric.
Late Summer/Early Fall is especially a great time to visit Poland or Italy(or Europe in general) because it is past the peak summer holiday travel season. Travelers typically find great deals on hotels and travel during this time of year, not to mention the fantastic weather that exists in the early fall. It’s personally my favorite time to travel to Europe. I’ve been to Rome, Capri, Venice, Sorrento and Naples in the fall and can tell you from first hand experience that the fall season is a great time to go. It’s also when I do a majority of my travel to Slovakia when visiting family. Less crowds, less hassles, less “weather”, BETTER DEALS!
During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I built in an 18 hour layover in Frankfurt in order to meet up with my friends from Lufthansa as well as to take in some unique Plane Spotting opportunities. In all, I spent about 6 hours walking Frankfurt’s tarmac, visiting 3 Lufthansa Technic Hangars and 2 observation areas.
The visit to Hangar 7 (a.k.a. the A380 Hangar) gave me virtually unlimited access to walk through, around and under Lufthansa’s ‘Tokio’. ‘Tokio’ (D-AIMD) was the 4th Airbus A380 to join Lufthansa’s fleet when it was delivered in October of 2010.
There’s an old saying that states you can say more by saying less so I will take this advice at least for this post and let my pictures do most of the talking. All I can say is that even though I have flown on the A380 a few times, I never appreciated her size and the engineering marvel that she is……until now.
Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 ‘Tokio’ shown in her stall.
To put things in perspective, look at the LH Technic vehicle near the inboard engine on the left wing….That vehicle can be swallowed whole by the engine…..
‘Star Wars’ Character or simply wearing it’s headphones?
Being this close to this behemoth really put things in perspective.
As large as the A380 is, an average height adult can not walk beneath the plane without ducking.
Looking out towards the starboard wing.
Another look at the starboard wing
Sorry Gary, but this is a much better “View From The Wing”! 🙂
An interesting fact about the A380 is that it’s wing span is larger than the length of the fuselage. The A380 is the only airliner that can say that. The wingspan is nearly as wide as a Football Field (261 feet!)
Hidden in this hatch beneath the wing is a turbine fan that drops down in case of electrical system failure. The turbine is efficient enough to generate enough power to run the A380’s critical systems during an emergency.
Its big. Including the vertical stabilizer, the A380 is over 7 stories tall.
A fully digital cockpit, including tablet and laptop ports. Virtually a paperless cockpit. Laptops are used to install flight plans, retrieve aircraft telemetry and “wear and tear” data that help engineers pinpoint problems and maintenance needs…..all without putting pen to paper. Truly helps reduce the human error element.
A closer look at the display panels. Notice the center screen on the lower displays, thats the view from the vertical stabilizer. The A380 has several cameras installed in the fuselage to help the pilot steer the aircraft on the ground as well as to provide views for passengers via the Inflight Entertainment System.
A view from the pilot’s side window. The A380 you see is ‘Peking’, which was delivered to Lufthansa in August 2010, right before ‘Tokio’. Who knew you can see Peking from Tokio…..
