Review of Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg in Business

Routing :

CDG – MUC / Airbus A320-214 CEO SL D-AIUT Lufthansa LH2239 Economy K / 6 AM Beer City Flug [THERE]
MUC – SOF / Airbus A320-214 CEO SL Lufthansa LH1702 Economy K / Eastern Orient Express [THERE]
SOF – VIE / Airbus A320-200 CEO OE-LBP Austrian OS796 Business C / Vienna coffee [THERE]
VIE – FRA / Airbus A319-100 CEO OE-LDG Austrian OS125 Business C / Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 [THERE]
> FRA – JNB / Boeing 747-8i D-ABYO Lufthansa LH572 Business C Upper Deck / I’m leaving on a jet plane, (I know) when I’ll be back again [YOU ARE HERE]
JNB – SZK / Embraer 135 ZS-SWN South African Airlink SA8865 Economy Q / A different kind of animal [THERE]
SZK – MQP / Cessna Caravan C208-B ZS-MLT South African Airlink SA8930 Economy Y / Dreaming of Cessna [THERE]
MQP – JNB / Embraer 140 ZS-ALR South African Airlink SA8828 Economy Q / Outclassing the road [THERE]
JNB – DUR / Airbus A330-200 ZS-SXV South African Airways SA559 Business C / Comfy old cabin [THERE]
DUR – CPT / Boeing 738WL ZS-ZWU British Airways by Comair BA6310 Business U / On the ‘Business’ again [THERE]
CPT – GRJ / Embraer 135 ZS-SWN South African Airlink SA8631 Economy Q / Lost Garden route flightpath [THERE]
PLZ – JNB / Boeing 737-800 Split Scimitar winglets ZS-ZWH British Airways by Comair BA6242 Economy O / From PE with chill [THERE]

JNB – FRA / Boeing 747-8i D-ABYR Lufthansa LH573 First C Nose / "Luck" [THERE]
FRA – VIE / Airbus A320 CEO OE-LBL Austrian OS128 Business C / Good Morning Austria

VIE – SOF / Airbus A320 CEO OE-LBM Austrian OS795 Business C / Foodstock
SOF – MUC / Embraer 195 D-AEMD Lufthansa LH1705 Cityline Economy K / …6.5 hours later
MUC – CDG / Airbus A319-100 CEO D-AILY Lufthansa LH2238 Economy K / Clap-my-end or "I (don't) love Paris, in the summer…"

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So, welcome back to the routing for what starts to be the interesting part ! If I took positioning flights to SOF and booked the error fare from SOF to JNB, it is obviously to enjoy this very flight, the only long haul roundtrip of the year, sadly. And because it is C class, there is a lot to enjoy !
We first went to the LH Business Lounge located gate Z 26.
On our way, we saw that this part of the terminal was completely empty

This is the lounge entrance

After checkin-in, you either have a moving belt or stairs

Up there you have the toilets + showers on your left hand side as well as a desk with multiple agents dealing that day with a flight to PVG apparently cancelled
The toilets look like this :

Very clean and modern looking.
This is the catering area

You can sit wherever you want

There was plenty of space on that day
Before eating something, I went for a shower. A cleaning lady was waiting with a register where you had to write flight details, most (if not all) of the passengers taking showers were flying the LH572 to JNB.
She said a shower cabin was available immediately so I quicky returned to my seat and asked my mother if she wanted one, so she went to register with me because she does not speak english, but she had to wait with a small electronic bipper that told her when the shower room was ready.
So I went for mine because I badly needed one after 4 flights. The water pressure was more than enough and the temperature easy to adjust.

It was warm enough in the cabin, everything was utterly clean
Back to the rest area, the wifi was fast and easy to access

We had a small view over the apron obstructed by the curtain

Then I went looking for some food (Frankfurt sausages and sort of gnocchis) to wait and charged my devices on the power outlets located on every furniture in the rest area.

When the time came to board, hopefully there was a FIDS to check if the boarding gate had changed. It will be Z69 for us, last gate of the pier…

Here is a bad view of D-ABYO, our beast for the night

First jetbridge

Nearly there

Warm welcome on board from the FAs
Up the stairs and we arrived into this well known 2-2 layout along the nice side stowage compartments

We took water as PDB because wine makes me sick when flying, so I'm not really an alcohol person

And the bad point about the seats many FR pointed out immediately came into view

The ottoman is ridiculous even just for feet. Under it, you can stow your shoes.
The amenity kit and a still water bottle are located under the seatback pocket which is itself located under the IFE.
The seats are nicely indicated though with a kind of metal bar

The seat controls are fairly simple but a bit used considering the cabin's age

The menus were then handed by our friendly blonde female FA that introduced herself

"A warm welcome on board"

Noise cancelling headset : Bose QC15 I think

The safety video was then displayed on the IFE, which image quality I have to say is mediocre

We pushed back on schedule and took off a while later

The service started of course with a hot oshibori

We were around here

Then came the hot nuts along the wine.
However the vinothek was not up to date
A very sweet white wine from New Zealand was suggested by our FA but it did not appear on the "Vinothek" part of the menu provided, our first choice was not available. most of the wines as you could see on the menu are fairly recent so not very mature enough.
The tray table felt solid and stable.

The beverages trolley

The branded polyester napkin was set by the FA

We took the "Spiced Salmon with Turnip Celery Salad, Frankfurt Style Pesto and Pumpkin Seeds" as a starter. A very bright idea because it tasted excellent

Metal LH branded cutlery

Here is a small simple salad

As for the main course, I opted for the Ravioli with pesto sauce and mediterranean vegetables (zucchini)

I declined the dessert, this was already way too much for me being the fifth flight in a row.
But took the small chocolate box provided :-)

After that I went to the toilets to check if everything was clean and if there was some amenity items : answer was "yes"

Same smoke detectors as in the AA 787 I flew between SCL and DFW last year.

Refreshing tissue

A hand cream from Korres

Shaving cream, paraben free please, along with actual shaving kits

A pocket comb

And finally a mouth wash, but I know you can read all of that for once that it is well lighted

This is what I was seeing with alcohol in my blood^^

Now it is time to sleep a bit

After having slept for a good 5 hours, these are the views we were treated to on the outside

Breakfast : I obviously chose the full version

Some branded metal cutlery here as well

Everything on the tray was well prepared and tasty. You really feel ready for your day after this kind of meal.
The sun was by then completely set

I enjoyed a bit more my seat and charged my devices

A kind of seatbelt I had never seen before

With the light you can better see the size of the side stowage compartments

The amenity kit was provided y "Bree" and contained
- a headset cover
- a mask
- socks,
- earplugs,
- a hand cream and a lip balm,
- a refreshing tissue,
- 2 lens wipe (nice to think to pax with glasses, smartphones or DSLRs)
- a pocket comb,
- toothpaste,
- a toothbrush

We had a gorgeous approach over Johannesburg

As for the landing, it was a smooth one

With a bit of spotting while taxiing

I will probably try Emirates next year to New Zealand in J class as well.

Before leaving, I forgot safety card !

Center page

I had asked before descent if I could pay a visit to the flight deck after landing, which was granted in its principle by our friendly FA but she told me she will have the confirmation of this later on. Which she did.
So after everyone had left the Upper Deck, she called me and I went there.
We shook hands both with the Captain and FO and talked a little bit about fuel consumption (100 tons) but the parking checklist had not been done yet and I could feel I was not very welcomed at that moment, although it was nice hearing this "live".
Furthermore, when the captain asked me not to share the pictures I was taking on social networks, I felt he was treating me as a kind of stupid youtuber taking selfie every 5 minutes or so. I did not take the trouble to answer to explain the purpose of the pictures, which is to share them with avgeek like you, readers, but it was not very friendly like I experienced last year flying American Airlines from JFK to EZE when the FO even left his seat and offered to take pictures.
This was nice to be welcomed obviously but if they feel it is an obligation because I was flying Business Class, then it is better not agreeing receiving pax visiting them in the first place. If passengers have an aviation interest, then it is something to share, to discuss, it shouldn't be kind of a burden. So that is why I won't put a 10 for the crew, even if our FA on the Upper Deck were very pleasant people.
So as Flight-Report labelled itself as a social network, I can't directly share the pictures with you. What I can do is uploading them to a Flickr album and give you the link via e-mail for those interested, but I really don't want to break my word by posting them here, sorry for that!
And on that last weird feeling, it is time to end and leave D-ABYO that landed here perfectly on-time.

And unfortunately we got into the world's second worst airport after Vienna, in my opinion of course : JNB ! Perhaps one of the most confusing airport I've been through.