Review of Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Rome in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello FlightReporters
Apart from flying I also like music and I'm a big of Ariana Grande
Unfortunately her Sweetener World Tour didn't have any date in Italy
Last January I start to search for tickets in other parts of Europe
According to my university exams' plan, I found the best option: 3rd October in Oslo, Norway

Around June I started to search for an accomodation and for the flight
Apparently the best price was a direct flight with Norwegian, but the return was too early in the morning the day after the concert
Since I didn't want to rush for the flight and I wished to visit the city I chose a solution with Lufthansa, stopping over in Frankfurt
LH costed around 200€ (Norwegian was 180€)

I've already flew with LH in 2013, on FCO-DUS-LHR-MUC-FCO route
Moreover in the same year I made a stopover in Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2 going to NYC
This time will be my first inside Lufthansa's reign, Terminal 1

TRANSIT IN FRANKFURT

I desembark from Oslo around 21:05
Boarding to FCO was scheduled at 21:20

We arrived at gate A21
Fortunately gate A16, where my flight would depart from, was quite close

The airport looked a bit different from the last time
Being night it was starting to "fall asleep"
Most of the shops were closing, despite there were many flights still departing

My gate was empty
Even if boarding time was close, nobody was queuing

Time to go home…

Having a few minutes I got a pretzel and a hot dog as dinner
There was a nice kiosk in front of the gate
Both were very tasty

Despite boarding was scheduled at 21:20, it started with a half a hour delay
No explain was given
Most of the passengers (as me) spent the whole time queueing without knowing about the retarted boarding

THE FLIGHT

Lufthansa line up:
A380 and A320s at Pier A-Plus

Surprisingly the plane was the same that carries me on FCO-FRA route two days before:
Lufthansa Airbus A321neo, D-AIEB, delivered in June '19 (0.4 years old)
The plane is equipped with 215 seats (the first rows can be used as business class)

Differently from the first A321, the -neo version has a different doors' layout
Door 2 is replaced by two overwings exits
I read that this is done in order to improve density

Mandatory door shot

Since I was very tired I forgot to give the flight report form to the Purser
Fortunately on the other three flights I managed to do it

The view from my seat, 8A
Lufthansa A320neo next to us and the huge building of Pier A-Plus

Around 22:15 we left our gate
Departure was originaly scheduled for 21:50

Lufthansa A340-600

Terminal 1A apron
Austrian Airlines A319 (?)

South African Airways A340-600

Condor Boeing 767 and AeroLogic Boeing 777F

We would depart from RWY18
This runway is used for southbound departures only at FRA

At 22:28 we took off
Departure was quite silent and smooth

Frankfurt suburbs scrolling below us

20 minutes into the flight the "dinner" was served
The choice was between chicken or cheese sandwich
I chose the latter

The taste was quite good, however the bread was a bit dry

I spent the rest of the flight sleeping
I woke up while the cabin was prepared for landing

After the arrival's announcement something funny happened between a passenger and the hostess

***Captain told the remaining flight time***

Passenger: "how much time before landing?"
Hostess: "the Captain just told, you were supposed to listen, as I didn't do! So this time you're forgiven, we have 20 minutes left"

No need to say that both start laughing, along with other passengers nearby

Approaching Roman countryside
We would land from north

Rome visible in the distance

ARRIVAL AT FCO

"Cabin crew prepare for landing"

We were almost on land when the two Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines went full thrust
The plane start to rose again and landing gear was retracted

"Ladies and gentleman, as you may have noticed we had to make a go-around. Captain will explain you the situation in a moment"

For the first time in my life I experienced a go-around
It was very smooth fortunately, also because there was no crosswind or bad weather

While many passengers were buzzing, the Captain made an announcement
He explained that  the go-around was ordered by the ATC due to trafic
We would have land again in less than 10 minutes

We banked over western Roman countryside before landing again on RWY16R
At 23:52, almost 15 minutes after scheduled, we touched down at Rome-Fiumicino "Leonardo da Vinci" International Airport

Taxi was quite short. In less than minutes we reached our gate at Pier D
We blocked at midnight
Vueling A320 parked next to us

Docking at gate D8

R(H)ome Sweet Home

Even if I had just cabin luggage, I proceeded to Terminal 1 exit, where my parents were waiting for me

The new connecting corridor between gates C and D areas
It opened one week before

The airport was empty, there were just 3/4 flights departing

Going straight to the exit

The baggage reclaim hall

In less than 10 minutes from blocking I went outside
My parents were already waiting for me at the pick up lane
I got home in around half a hour

Thank you for your attention and see you at the next report!