Review of Lufthansa flight Budapest Frankfurt in Economy

Airline Lufthansa
Flight LH1337
Class Economy
Seat 12A
Aircraft Airbus A319
Flight time 01:35
Take-off 27 Nov 18, 12:45
Arrival at 27 Nov 18, 14:20
LH   #64 out of 95 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1589 reviews
Vasconium
By 630
Published on 12th May 2019
Hello and welcome to the third trip report in a series of four detailing my November 2018 escapade to Budapest! The first and second trip report can be found here and here respectively.


Beating the rush hour



After 4 days visiting a rainy yet stunning Budapest, it was time for me to head back home to Spain. Unlike the previous flights, a mix between charter (first leg was operated by Adria on behalf of LH) and regional (second leg was by Cityline) the last legs would be operated by mainline Lufthansa planes - you could say these were my real first flights with Lufthansa ;).

Had to get to Budapest Ferenc Liszt as soon as possible, though - if there's anything BUD is sadly infamous for, it's for how packed it can get during peak hours, even on weekdays! While Budapest has grown as a popular tourist destination in recent years, the airport hasn't been able to keep up, and it's very clear an expansion will be needed in the (very) near future, if only just to get rid of those ugly low-cost gates!

After getting picked up at the hotel by my Fötaxi driver, I was on my way…

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8 o' clock in the morning and already queues were starting to appear. See what I mean?

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After checking-in for my flight I decide to take a look around landside before passing security. Air China had a small "exhibition" (really just an ad for their flights to Beijing) in the hallway between terminals:


The real star of BUD's landside, but of course, is its terrace in Terminal 2A. An absolute must…

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during the summer months, that is. Sadly rain been a constant during my whole holiday and today was going to be no different. Didn't help it was quite windy as well…

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Furthermore the limited viewing space you had that wasn't covered up by fence had fogged up with the cold weather. One wonders who though installing easily-foggable windows in the main airport of a country known for its extremely cold weather was a good idea… As such I had to improvise:


The terrace also had informative panels going into detail about the airport and the planes it sees (and has seen)…

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…as well as pictures of the airport over the years:


It's also one of those terraces that require payment to enter, though at 500Ft per ticket (1,54€ at the time this report was redacted) it's not a big deal. Overall I didn't mind my short stay up here (it was cold!) but I would've enjoyed it more had I visited in, say, July.

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Anyways, it's time to head airside. Compare that picture up there of 2A's check-in hall back when it first opened in 1986 (or better yet a video from back then!) with nowadays:

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Out with the old, in with the new: Skycourt is an impressive feat of engineering, you'd never think something like this could exist behind the drabby check-in area!

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When was the last time you ever saw any kind of Virgin-branded shops?

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Quick planespotting: despite being parked next to a gate (the newly built pier B gates in fact) this Wizz Air A320 to Prishtina was being bus-boarded:

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El-Al (ex-Up!) to TLV:

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The Zurich-bound Swiss we saw earlier on the terrace:

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Do they even have the range to get here?

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As I wouldn't be able to grab something more filling in FRA due to time constraints and knowing those LH sandwiches would definitely not fill me up, I headed up to the food court for breakfast:

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My choice for breakfast. The chicken was undercooked and soggy, even more so than what you'd expect from your average KFC - not recommended.

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After breakfast I headed downstairs to a waiting area downstairs to relax for a while, as well as do some Youtube catch-up using BUD's free wi-fi…

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In the meantime, my plane for today's flight was just about to land:

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I also received an e-mail from Lufthansa warning me of a gate change… the exact same one that was still appearing on the screens, lol:

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Oh hey, I was down there just 2 days ago!

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Boarding was announced around 12:10, and as usual a massive queue piled up - they weren't going anywhere though as the plane had yet to park up to the gate:

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It was also here that I discovered BUD's free Wi-fi wasn't necessarily unlimited. One wonders how someone would be able to return to enjoy the free Wi-fi if they've left the country:

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Ah well, let's do some more planespotting in the meantime. Brussels to… Brussels:

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I'm flying these guys in November!

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Our plane arrives a few minutes later:

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It's D-AIBI - Frankenthal (Pfalz) - first delivered to LH in 2012, which it has flown with since.

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Heading on board:

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Viszontlátásra, Budapest!


Full house today:

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OK legroom:

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Pushback begins 5 to 1, which allows us for a final planespotting session. KLM to Amsterdam:

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Austrian to VIE;

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Sund Air A320 carrying Munich Airport delegates. They had followed me and my guide during my airport tour 2 days prior in a refurbished Setra. Also note how all ground services are being run by BUDPORT, a brand new handling company that aside from charters only serves UIA!:

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Wizz A320 in the old livery. Wizz Air is to modern BUD what Malev was to the BUD of yesteryear - completely and absolutely unavoidable.

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Same with Ryanair - albeit to a lesser extent.

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Also notice a stray Euroatlantic 767 awaiting maintenance.

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She wasn't alone - two EW birds and even an ex-Southwest 737-700 were stored right next to it. A Flybondi (hola Shisdu!) 737-800 was also parked with the other planes just two days ago, but it appears she was moved somewhere else since then. Sadly she did not get taken up and is now awaiting delivery for Jet2. Meanwhile the Lufthansa Technik houses an Aegean A320, an ASL Airlines 737 awaiting a nose job and…

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…HA-LCA, Malev's first Tu154. Painstakingly restored by the folks at Aeropark Budapest to her former glory, she now sits next to the Lufthansa Technik hangar awaiting relocation to the Aeropark itself (or hopefully what they plan will become their new home, Terminal 1…).

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Take-off from Runway 1:


Quiet cabin after takeoff:

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Meal service begins 10 minutes after take-off, I decide to go with the other sandwich they offer (not as good as the Chicken and Veggie one), along with a cup of water.

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It's brighter than usual outside so I lower the window shade for a bit:

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I also take the moment to check out the bathroom - all clean.

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Frankfurter landing



Descent begins about an hour in, and soon we head under the clouds over Wiesbaden:

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Lucius D. Clay Kaserne:

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Flörsheim am Main:

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Landing:


A few of the bigger LH birds as we taxi to the gate:

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As well as a departing Vietnam Airlines 787 -

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and this United 777 awaiting passengers:

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We come to a stop at a remote stand:

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Tschüss, Frankenthal (Pfalz)!

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We get packed up in a cramped bus, and whisked away to the terminal. Least I made it to the next flight (the connection time was tight)!

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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the last trip report, coming soon!
See more

Verdict

Lufthansa

6.9/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi5.5
Meal/catering7.0

Budapest - BUD

6.8/10
Efficiency6.0
Access6.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

Frankfurt - FRA

6.9/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

Budapest Airport: cramped and busy landside, spacious (but still busy) airside. Still requires expansion, hopefully the new Terminal 3 will solve that.
Frankfurt Airport: from what little I saw it seem dingy and cramped, even more so than BUD, but it was clean however. I can see why people like MUC more.
Lufthansa: Very similar to previous flights, tried the other sandwich this time but wasn't impressed.

Information on the route Budapest (BUD) Frankfurt (FRA)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 8 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Budapest (BUD) → Frankfurt (FRA).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Malev avec 7.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 45 minutes.

  More information

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 502702 by
    Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
    Hola Vasconium!

    Muchas gracias por este completísimo, bien detallado y bien fotografiado informe!

    Algunas de las fotos no quisieron cargar, pero no importa. Igual las pude ver abriéndolas directamente en imgur. :(

    Gracias por compartir!
    • Comment 502773 by
      Vasconium AUTHOR 12 Comments
      Muchisimas gracias Shisdu! Ya lo siento que te costaran ver las fotos, he visto que ya costaba que se cargarse todas - eso si, si te ponias sobre una de ellas se acaba cargado, aunque obviamente es un poco tedioso... Uso Imgur debido a que me resulta mas comodo y rapido que reescalar todas las fotos para que entren en el image uploader de Flight-Report.
      • Comment 502781 by
        Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
        Ah, comprendo.

        Solamente como dato interesante, has probado IrfanView? Es un visor de imágenes muy liviano que, entre otras cosas, permite reescalar imágenes por lotes. Uno selecciona todas las imágenes a las que quiere cambiar el tamaño y en un tris las tienes redimensionadas. En el menú tienes que ir a "Batch resize" y seleccionar las opciones que desees.

        Oh! Olvidaba mencionar que el video me pareció muy adecuado e interesante. Me perdí esa época romántica de la aviación en los 70 y 80 porque recién empecé a volar en los 90. Me habría encantado volar en uno de esos Tupolev, como HA-LCN, que aparece en el video. Bueno, el año pasado al menos pude volar por primera vez en un MC-80. Me pregunto si se parecerán.

        Que estés bien! :)
        • Comment 502783 by
          Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
          Quise decir, MD-80 :D
        • Comment 502946 by
          Vasconium AUTHOR 12 Comments
          Gracias por la sugerencia del Irfanview, lo tendre en cuenta para el proximo reporte!

          Yo tuve la suerte de volar con los Maddog desde muy pequeño, en mi aeropuerto local (EAS) eran muy común a finales de los 90/principios del 00 por lo que llegue a volar en varios a lo largo del tiempo antes de su retirada (y de que los reemplazaran por aburridisimos ATRs). Yo hice este viaje a Budapest en parte por una serie de anuncios hungaros de los 80, me crearon cierta emoción de una añoranza nunca vivida. Si bien Budapest ha cambiado mucho desde entonces pude sentir ese aire andando por la ciudad...

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