Review of Lufthansa flight Amsterdam → Frankfurt in Economy

Introduction

Well hello again, dear Flight-Report community! How've y'all been? After an unplanned absence of a whole year, I'm back with some more reports. When last we saw each other, I had just landed in Helsinki from Amsterdam after trying out Finnair's then-brand new A330 Premium Economy Class. I had promised to write one final report from that trip, which would have covered a short hop from Helsinki to Vienna aboard a Finnair A319, but, well, I never did get to that. Rest assured, you aren't missing out on much - I sipped some blueberry juice, enjoyed the views of Saaremaa Island, Estonia, and lucked out with a whole row to myself. Apart from the drop-down screens with a nosecam, there's absolutely nothing special about a Finnair A319.

After that trip, I did do a bunch of flying around Europe, and especially between my former homebase of Vienna to my new one, Amsterdam Schiphol! Indeed, after 5 years, it was time to say "pfiat di" to Austria, and last summer I moved to the Netherlands to continue my studies. In the meantime, I've decided to focus my reports on more exciting trips. So while there's nothing unexciting about a Eurowings A319 Economy flight I took from Düsseldorf to Prague, I figure it's better to save my energy and report on cooler journeys, such as my first longhaul trip being Schiphol-based. That trip took place last October, and at some point in the future will show up here.

With that in mind, you're surely asking yourself, "why on earth is NewYorker back with a lame Economy Class review of a Lufthansa A321 from Amsterdam to Frankfurt??" A very valid question indeed. This flight is merely the intro of an awesome trip I took at the beginning of this month to my favorite place on the planet, which will be revealed in the next report. And having already published a fair share of LH shorthaul economy reports, this one will be a quickie.

All that being said, it's good to be back, and I hope you enjoy the opening act of what will turn out to be a fun series!

itinerary

As mentioned above, this trip would take me back to my favorite place on Earth, a place I hadn't been to since 2014. The destination will be revealed in the next report, but what I can tell you now is that the whole trip would include 4 airlines (including 1 new one!), 6 aircraft type, and 9 airports, with a total of 7 flights (though there will only be reviews of 6 of them). Everything will be announced as each new report is published. Here's how the GCMap looks like in this first installment:

amsterdam schiphol airport (ams)

I arrived at Schiphol around 6 AM, plenty early for my 8:05 AM departure. At the relatively early hour, I was unsure how busy the airport would turn out to be, but was happy to see that everything ran like a fine-tuned machine. I was through security in all of 5 minutes. I didn't take many pictures of the airport, as I met up with some friends who were flying down to Verona aboard Transavia an hour before me.

Once I sent my friends off, I headed to the Swissport Aspire lounge. While a solid space which certainly beats the gate area, there's nothing at all special about the lounge, and the food spread does leave a bit to be desired. I didn't take any pictures from there, but I did review it after I visited in January 2020, and my comments from that review still apply.

Lufthansa and non-Schengen Star Alliance flights usually depart from the B gates at Schiphol, though to my surprise, that morning my flight left from gate C8, which meant less of a walk from the lounge was needed. I got to the gate shortly before boarding commenced.

Bringing me down to Frankfurt would be D-AIDE, a 2011-built Airbus A321 named 'Dessau'.

boarding

Boarding began right on time at 7:30 AM, and with a fairly light load it did not take long for everyone to get on board.

A look at the Dessau's fuselage.

Lufthansa's yellow welcome plaque, looking slightly out of place without a welcome message.

Passing through the Business Class cabin.

I quickly settled into my seat 7A, immediately behind the Business Class cabin. The wing and engine view was exactly as good as I had hoped for.

lufthansa 1003 - amsterdam to frankfurt

With all passengers onboard (and the two seats next to me staying empty!), the doors were closed, the captain made a brief welcome announcement, and at 7:49 AM we pushed back off the stand. A few minutes later, our flaps were set for departure, and we began our trek to the Polderbaan - Schiphol's longest (and most remote) runway.

Our pilots taxied with gusto, and we began our takeoff roll at exactly 8:05 AM - perfectly on schedule.

Leaving an unseasonably cloudy Netherlands behind…

…and emerging into the clear blue sky while still on our initial departure heading.

Making a series of turns to head southeast towards Germany.

Peeking into the Business Class cabin after departure.

mid-flight

Once the seatbelt sign was switched off, the crew got to work with the buy-on-board service. While I'm definitely not a fan of LH's new low-cost carrier service model on European flights, water alone is perfectly sufficient for a 45-minute flight, although I should note that the LH chocolate was conspicuously absent.

Cruising at 29,000 feet, with nothing but clouds down below.

With nothing to see outside, I took a couple of pictures of my surroundings.

approach into frankfurt

Before I knew it, the captain switched the seatbelt sign back on and announced that we were descending into Frankfurt.

Overflying the city of Mainz on our final approach.

Short final.

We touched down smoothly on Runway 7L at 8:47 AM, 23 minutes early, after an incredibly quick flight time of 42 minutes.

(I will at some point link videos of the takeoffs and landings of all installments of this series, as well).

The famous water tanks welcoming me back to Frankfurt for the first time since July 2021.

Taxing into the terminal apron…

…and pulling into our stand next to a Lufthansa A320, which was getting ready to operate flight LH282 to Bologna.

A final look at my home for the first hour of what would be a long travel day.

Parting shots of the Dessau before heading off for the real excitement of the day.

Where would I be heading next, and with which airline? Stay tuned!