A very warm welcome to part 2 of my recent trip to Michigan and Chicago! When last we saw each other, I had just arrived in Frankfurt after a short Austrian Airlines flight from Innsbruck. As a reminder, the routing of this trip looks like this:
Flight routing
- 1
- 2LH442 - Economy - Frankfurt → Detroit - Airbus A340-600
- 3OS66 - Economy - Chicago → Vienna - Boeing 777-200ER
- 4OS903 - Economy - Vienna → Innsbruck - Bombardier Dash 8-Q400
As we parked at a remote position, a bus had to pick up all passengers (except for the HON on our flight, who was whisked away by a Mercedes) and took us to Terminal 1B. From there, I found myself in this transfer tunnel.
An elevator ride later, I ended up in Terminal 1A.
At a gate below me was a Lufthansa A321 (D-AIRY 'Flensburg') getting ready to fly to Munich as LH98.
Next to it, another Lufthansa A321 (D-AISO 'Bocholt') was getting ready to fly to Zürich as LH1186.
I decided to skip the lounge this time and stay by the windows to plane spot. First, I headed to my gate, Z20.
My aircraft had arrived from Miami earlier in the day and was resting at the gate. The registration of my A340-600 was D-AIHX, which was built in 2009.
On the other side, I had a good view of the active runways. Here's a Singapore A380 (9V-SKP) arriving from JFK as SQ25, while a Lufthansa A321 (D-AIRO 'Konstanz') prepares for flight LH1176 to Oporto.
Here's a TUI A321 (CS-TKU) operated by White taxiing to takeoff to Gran Canaria.
Lufthansa Cargo's 2nd newest 777F (D-ALFF 'Konnichiwa Japan') lining up for takeoff to Beijing.
And lastly, a Lufthansa A340-600 (D-AIHY) preparing to fly to San Francisco as LH454.
Quick information about my flight at the gate.
Boarding.
Down the jetbridge.
A look at the fuselage as a Lufthansa A380 pushes back.
Passing through the Business Class. Not the best product, but still nice.
Premium Economy.
My seat, 32A.
Good legroom.
Seatback contents.
Fantastic wingview.
Cabin during boarding.
Typical Airbus PSU.
Headphones placed at my seat.
The IFE.
Tips about using the headset.
Not the most modern airshow, but I like it.
A lot of options.
Great selection of movies…
…and TV shows.
I honestly didn't see the PilotsEYE A350 movie until I looked at the pictures of the flight :(
Some planespotting while waiting to push. Here's a Lufthansa A320neo (D-AINF) arriving from London Heathrow as LH925.
KLM Cityhopper Embraer 190 (PH-EZM) arriving from Amsterdam as KL1765.
Air Canada 787-9 (C-FNOG) arriving from Calgary as AC844.
Lufthansa A321 (D-AISQ 'Lindau') arriving from Hamburg as LH13.
Lufthansa A321 (D-AISG 'Dormagen') arriving from Berlin Tegel as LH181.
British Airways A320 (G-EUYA) arriving from London Heathrow as BA906.
And the best for last: United 777-200 (N78003) arriving from Houston as UA46.
Safety video screening.
Pushing back.
Lufthansa 747-400 (D-ABVO 'Mühlheim a. d. Ruhr') preparing for departure to Dubai as LH630.
Flaps 2.
The famous Frankfurt Airport shot.
United 777-300ER (N2846U) resting before flying to SFO as UA59. I really want to fly one of their 777-300ERs in Polaris. I won't mind using a GPU to upgrade on a long flight.
United 767-400 (N76065) waiting to take passengers to Newark as UA961.
The same United 777 I saw landing from Houston.
And the same Air Canada 787 I saw coming from Calgary.
Delta 767-300 (N178DN) preparing to fly to Atlanta as DL15.
Austrian A320 (OE-LBW 'Innviertel') arriving from Vienna as OS129.
Lined up with the runway.
Rolling.
We were quite heavy and rolled for a long time.
Rotate.
Turning on our departure.
Full takeoff video:
Cabin after departure.
Climbing out over Hesse.
Turning towards the Atlantic over Eschenburg.
Checking out the WiFi portal.
The drink service began shortly after takeoff. I chose tomato juice.
It came with the typical Lufthansa snack mix.
A bit later, hot towels were passed around.
Then came my special Indian Vegetarian meal. I'm neither Indian nor Vegetarian, but I just love Indian food!
No idea what there two things were, and I didn't feel like learning.
The main dish was delicious, though.
Here's the view from door 4L.
A mini-galley.
The aft Economy Class cabin.
The forward Economy cabin.
Super cool downstairs bathroom. Why don't more airplanes have these types of bathrooms? They are quieter and less smelly.
AvGeeks can also confirm the registration of the aircraft, too.
Some turbulence over the Atlantic.
A look at the features of the seat: a cup holder…
…folding tray table…
…USB charger (didn't work)…
…and a universal power plug (worked).
I watched American Made and As Good as it Gets and then took a nap. I woke up as a snack was served. All other passengers got a calzone, while I got this sandwich. It was good, but I suspect that the calzone was better.
I was also given water which was served in a strange way. I spilled it on myself 5 seconds after this picture was taken.
As we were over the Algonquin Provincial Park, one of the pilots made the only announcement from the cockpit of the flight and curtly said that we'd be landing 15 minutes early and abruptly ended his announcement. No "thanks for flying with us" and not even a "good day". Luckily, the flight attendants were much nicer.
Cruising over Ontario.
Our contrail.
Lake Ontario.
Overflying Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ/CYYZ)
Downtown Toronto.
Toronto Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ/CYTZ)
Hamilton, Canada.
John C. Munro Hamilton Airport (YHM/CYHM)
Passing Delhi…. Canada?!? Interesting.
Frozen Lake Erie! I've never seen it so frozen.
Private Jet above us.
Slight left turn over the US-Canada border with a nice view of Lake St. Clair.
Detroit City Airport (DET/KDET)
Detroit skyline.
Turning final.
Flaps coming down.
On final.
Over the airport.
Flare.
Firm landing!
Slowing down.
Taxiing off the runway.
Full landing video (and yes, that's me saying 'jeez' after landing, I wasn't expecting such a hard landing):
It's clear whose territory we're in. Can anyone spot the intruder?
United Express Embraer 175 (N88330, operated by Mesa Airlines) just arrived from Houston as UA6083.
An empty North Terminal, apart from a Spirit A320 and Southwest 737MAX. Little did anyone know, ET302 would crash 2 days later, grounding the type.
A drab-looking terminal.
Last look at my seat.
Passing through Premium Economy.
Cool mini-door!
The Business Class cabin.
And the First Class. Used to look much more impressive but I'd still like to fly. On a flight longer than this, though.
Classy bulkhead.
Into the jetbridge.
Last but not least, the routing of my flight.
Thanks for reading, and please like and leave a comment down below. See you in the next part!
Thanks for this FR.
The real treat of this flight was definitely the A340-600 :-D Such a graceful bird.
I can't help but notice how small the mealtray was, even more so than the regular meals.
LH indian veg meals are really good I admit.
Nice spotting in FRA too !
Thanks for reading! Yes, even though I’m a total Boeing guy, I do enjoy flying with the A340-600. It’s quiet and yes, graceful. It’s a shame that there are so few left in the world. Yeah, the meal tray was a bit small, but since the meal was so good I’ll let it slide. I’ve noticed that Indian Veg meals are pretty good on almost all airlines! I’m glad you enjoyed the report as well as the spotting in FRA. Hope to see in the next part!
*hope to see you
I didn't like the A340 when it was released to be honest, but it simply started to grow on me. Nowadays there are only a limited amount of them left and would love to fly them once again. The vegetarian Indian meal looks delicious, though I absolutely hate the 'Rossbacher Wasser'' which is served with it as I find it a very disgusting type of water with that aftertaste. Thanks for the FR!
Thanks for reading, Thomas! Yes the Indian meals was quite good, but I agree with you about the Rossbacher water. I don't understand why LH uses them. I hope to see you in the next report!
A solid trip report, thank you very much for sharing! Great attention to detail as well. Interesting that you got served water separately, with a VOML tag on it... hmmm. Looking forward to the return too!
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed my report, and I look forward to seeing you in the next one!
Another very nice and well-written report! It's amazing to me that LH can fill an A346 to DTW every day considering DTW is such a DL/SkyTeam stronghold. LH seems to be able to make a several U.S. cities work where there isn't a big *A presence--like CLT and PHL off the top of my head (though I know they're former *A hubs).
Hah, dairy ? ...I still don't know how I feel about the new LH livery, but it looks better on narrowbodies like this 321 IMO
LOL Yeah that's been a big trend in the frequent flyer community for a few years now. Apparently you can't go wrong with Indian Vegetarian meals...it seems they're good on any carrier. I love Indian food too, but I also love meat, lol. If there was such a thing as a non-vegetarian Indian special meal, I would totally do that...mmmm Butter chicken ?
The A346 is certainly a beautiful bird and as you mention, LH keeps the interiors looking new.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Actually, the fligh was only around 60% full, which made me wonder why they put a 346 on that day's flight. Maybe there was a heavier oad on the way back.
That's definitely one of the better things about them!
Flew that one in 2016! I like the new livery, it's sophisticated.
I've heard they are pretty good in AA F. You should one, given that your're an AA guy ;-)
I nce had a great Butter Chicken in Y on Jet Airways :-(
Hope to see you in another report soon!