Review of Lufthansa flight Istanbul → Frankfurt in Economy

THIS REPORT IS A PART OF THE FLASHBACK SERIES

Hi & Welcome to this report on my FLASHBACK SERIES. In this series of flights, I would share reports from flights that I've flown before registering this website. Just a quick reminder that I am the same human being with "turkishflyer1" on flyertalk so the reports posted can be the same as posted there.

This report would contain a report of my old shuttle flight which I used more than 5 times every year when I had my Senator status in Miles&More. Unfortunately, Lufthansa Group has decreased their flights to Turkey and their prices significantly rose up so nowadays, I am not flying Lufthansa Group unless I got a great deal from them. This report is the first flight of my Los Angeles trip in Northern Winter 2013.

Regular up to date reports would be continued to be shared shortly after the flight date.

Flights that I plan to share:

TK 9 Istanbul to Los Angeles ( Business ), Boeing 777-300ER / May 2012 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
TK 10 Los Angeles to Istanbul ( Business ), Boeing 777-300ER / May 2012 ( arriving Dec 2019 ), Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles ( old TBIT )
TK 2312 Istanbul to Izmir ( Economy) , Airbus A340-300 / December 2012 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul Domestic
TK 2333 Izmir to Istanbul ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / December 2012 ( click ), Comfort Lounge International
LH 1305 Istanbul to Frankfurt ( Economy ), Airbus A319-100 / February 2013 ( you are here ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
LH 456 Frankfurt to Los Angeles ( Economy ), Boeing 747-8I / February 2013 ( click ), Lufthansa Senator Lounge Z Frankfurt
LH 457 Los Angeles to Frankfurt ( Business ), Boeing 747-8I / February 2013 ( arriving Dec 2018 ), Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles ( old TBIT )
LH 1300 Frankfurt to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / February 2013 ( arriving Dec 2018 ), Lufthansa Senator Lounge B Frankfurt
XQ 9065 Istanbul-SAW to Izmir ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / August 2015 ( click )
XQ 9264 Izmir to Istanbul-SAW ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / August 2015 ( click ), Comfort Lounge Domestic
LH 403 Newark-EWR to Frankfurt ( Economy ), Boeing 747-8I / August 2016 ( arriving Jan 2019 ), Lufthansa Business Lounge Newark
LH 1298 Frankfurt to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / August 2016 ( arriving Jan 2019 ), Lufthansa Business Lounge B20-28
ME 266 Istanbul to Beirut ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / September 2016 ( click )
ME 267 Beirut to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / September 2016 ( click )

List subject to change due to photo availability, dates are estimated and changes can occur.
As these flights are reported you would be able to click on the sector to see the FR. Not reported flights would be written in italic.

As this is a flashback report no route&trip overview wouldn't be provided as some exceptions can occur.

ONLINE CHECK-IN

Online check-in was done 23 hours before departure on LH website.

ISTANBUL ATATÜRK AIRPORT - IST

The airport was empty as it was 3am in the morning.


Check-in:

Check-in was quickly done by the ground staff as there was no one else other than me in the First Class lane.


The check-in counters


Boarding Pass


After passing through security & passport check I headed to the Turkish Airlines Lounge.

TURKISH AIRLINES LOUNGE ISTANBUL

Lufthansa usually offered access to the Millennium Lounge but as there is a Star Alliance Gold Lounge in Istanbul, LH decided to stop paying the Millennium Lounge for Senator, Hon Circle & Star Gold passengers and direct them to Turkish Airlines Lounge.


The reception was empty at that time, there were a quite few people inside the lounge at that time.


Drink selections at the lounge


As the first TK flight for the day departs at 06:45 and most passengers were JP passengers to LJU or LH passengers to FRA & MUC, there was nothing to eat except the breakfast bar and the nut section.


FIDS in the morning


I was lucky to catch TK463 one day but not TK451


A shot from the empty lounge

GATE AREA & BOARDING

In Istanbul, in most flights, the ground staff wants passengers to go to the gate earlier than boarding so I left the lounge when the "Go To Gate" sign appeared on the monitors, but there was no movement at the gate. Passengers were still waiting to board.


Next door, this TK 738 was parked, waiting for his flight to Hannover.


Our aircraft from the terminal


Boarding had started 25 minutes before departure.

LH 1305 ISTANBUL ATATÜRK AIRPORT to FRANKFURT AIRPORT

Seat

Most people hates these Recaro seats, but I enjoy them and the legroom was OK for me. In addition, due to the early morning departure pillows & blankets were provided at each seat.


Overhead panel


AZ A320 to FCO - They used to fly from IST


Luckily seat 5E was empty for the flight and my travel companion moved to seat 5D.

IFE

Lufthansa didn't offer Personal Entertainment for their short-mid haul customers in 2013. They only had magazines. By the way, inflight shopping was available during this flight.

Safety card


Inflight Shopping Catalogue


Lufthansa Magazin


Worldshop Catalogue


Breakfast

A hot breakfast was provided shortly after takeoff. Unfortunately, Sky Chefs in Istanbul isn't successful as Germany. The tray contained an hot vegetable omelette with potatoes, mushrooms and brocolies. The tray also had 2 breads, butter, a small strawberry jam and an orange juice.


For the rest of the flight, I took a short nap.

FRANKFURT AIRPORT - FRA

We had parked at an open stand near Terminal 2. Like all flights arriving from Turkey, the police checked visas and passports at the aircraft door. Then we were transferred to Terminal 1B by bus.



Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.