Report No: 2020-304E
Ladies and Gentleman,
Welcome to this very interesting and thrilling Flight-Report series as the COVID-19 situation in the world affected my travel plans, however, not this time as I was able to return back to Europe as planned with some minor changes. This series would contain 2 parts, with 5 flights all on Economy Class, covering 3 different airlines, 6 different airports, 5 different lounges and 5 different aircraft types.
My original plan was to return back to Istanbul, the day after the event I attended in Graz with Turkish Airlines onboard their direct flight from Graz to Istanbul. Unfortunately, 5-6 days before my trip, due to low demand, the Graz route was dropped until the end of March ( now until mid-April ) so I needed a rebooking. Also due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, many flights were canceled and things have been complicated.
After arriving from a short flight from GRZ, my original intention was to take a TK flight back to Istanbul; however, the day that I intended to return back the Turkish authorities have banned travel from several EU countries ( including Germany ) and only allowing repatriation flights so I needed to find an alternative routing back home, and I had the smart idea to re-route my self through Athens as Greece also has land, sea and air borders with Turkey.
That's one of the reasons I took this flight to Athens onboard this old Lufthansa A320-200 to Athens onboard Lufthi's Economy Class. This report would also contain a review of the Lufthansa Senator Lounge at K-gates at MUC.
The routing details would reveal part by part…
Stay tuned with Flight-Report for the upcoming reports in this series
Flight routing
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4LH 1782 Munich to Athens ( Economy Class ), Airbus A320-200, Lufthansa Senator Lounge K-Gates
- 5
Pax for this flight
Business Class: No idea
Economy Class: %90-95
ONLINE CHECK-IN
When I checked-in online for my GRZ-MUC flight, I also had the chance of checking-in for my MUC-ATH flight. The system had given 5F to me but in the upcoming hours, as availability opened on the exit-row, I assigned myself to seat 12A.
MUNICH AIRPORT - MUC
After arriving from my flight from GRZ, I was inside MUC T2 after 4 years. I looked at the FIDS and learned that my flight would depart from K gates.
And it was time to take to people mover to K gates. It would be my first time going to MUC T2S.
And descending to the basement in order to take the people-mover
After a short wait, I went inside this small train to head to the satellite terminal. The journey takes around 1-2 minutes.
And, it was time to head to the Senator Lounge as I had around 3 hours until my next flight.
LUFTHANSA SENATOR LOUNGE K-GATES - MUNICH AIRPORT
My last visit at one of the Lufthansa Lounges in MUC was back in 2014 so I wouldn't able to compare the offerings to my previous visits, however, the offerings were super good.
Especially, the pasta dish was super-delicious.
Salad bar
Beans and soup
The lounge also has a bar where the barista prepares cocktails for those who wish
Drink choices
Candy
The lounge also has a special bar for coffee and desserts.
Desserts available that day
The lounge also has great spotting opportunity, this LOT 737-800 was visible from the lounge
GATE AREA & BOARDING
30-35 minutes before our scheduled departure time, I headed to the gate and our aircraft was visible from the terminal
Our gate, K22, was directly located across the Green Gate information area
20-25 minutes before scheduled departure time, boarding has started with the respect of priorities and I was the first one to board the aircraft.
LH 1782 MUNICH AIRPORT TO ATHENS AIRPORT
After being greeted by the crew, I found my seat on the 27 year old Lufthansa A320.
As I feel comfortable when sitting on Lufthansa NEK seats, I enjoy traveling on them. However, the lack of armrest on the left side was a bit disturbing. Other carriers, for example BA, has an armrest-ish thing on the window exit. However, when I slept on the flight, the lack of armrest, improved my quality of sleep as it increased the seat width.
The legroom is generous on exit-row seats.
Our neighbor was this Lufthansa A340-600
The seat pocket had the usual content
Lufthansa flies to several cities in Greece, however, only Athens is served year-round. At least according to this route map
Technical information about our aircraft
As you might know, most Lufthansa short-haul aircraft has internet equipped within them, however, D-AIQS did not have FlyNet equipped, so passengers did not have the option to connect to Wi-Fi onboard today's flight.
After boarding was almost completed, the captain announced that there were 2 people missing coming from connecting flights and they did want to allow them to make the connection so they told that they would wait them for 10 minutes. 4-5 minutes after that announcement, they did show up and doors were closed, the safety demo was performed and we had pushed back from parking position 313.
Mostly LH aircraft is present at Munich T2
The situation is same for the main building, mostly LH aircraft
However, this Avianca 787 was an exception
And shortly later, we had took off.
Remote stands near Terminal 1.
And we're in the air
Shortly after the seatbelt signs have turned off, the meal service had begun. The tray contained a small plate of vegetables, a main dish, bread, butter, and chocolate. I find Lufthansa very good in terms of catering and they are one of the rare carriers that didn't introduced cost-cutting on their intra-European flights.
Today's main course was a pasta which LSG Sky Chefs is expert cooking at. As usual, it was super delicious and above my exceptions.
Rigatoni with Tomato sauce
For a drink, I opted for a tomato juice.
Shortly after the meal service, I have visited the lavatory and it was clean during my visit
And then I slept until we approached to ATH
And we've successfully landed at ATH
And we were going to park at a non-Schengen gate at the satellite terminal
So this meant that buses would take us to the terminal
ATHENS ELEFTERIOS VENIZELOS AIRPORT - ATH
After saying goodbye to the crew, I have left the aircraft from door 1L and took this fuselage shot.
At that time, the rear stairs was being attached to the aircraft
After the first bus has been full, without the respect of social distancing, we were transferred to the terminal
The bus took us to the Schengen bus gates area at the main building
As my bags were checked thru on my next flight, I left the baggage claim hall.
And, it was time to head to the Sofitel at the airport for the night.
And, after waiting 5 minutes for my turn at the front desk, I was assigned a room and had a deep sleep
And, this report has came to an end. The adventure would continue on the next report.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you on another Flight-Report.
Another solid report, thanks ISTFlyer! It's nice that LH gives a hot meal on flights to ATH. Funny how you were on a 27-year old A320 with the new livery. Sadly, D-AIQS will probably be one of 20 A320s that LH will phase out due to the pandemic ? Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to the final segment. Will it be Turkish? Aegean? A surprise third option? Can't wait to find out ?
Hi NewYorker,
- Indeed, I was surprised as they still offer a hot meal on these routes that are 2h-2h30min. Probably, they do serve a hot meal because Aegean does on the same route.
- Indeed, I hated these A320's and A321-100's a few years ago because of the engine noise, nowadays I started to enjoy it and they're going to be phased out. However, still, there is a possibility that these old aircraft may return back to the LH fleet after things get normal.
- That would be a surprise; probably you would learn the answer next week.
Once again thanks for your comments and take care.
Actually from what I remember is that Lufthansa differentiate certain routes within Europe to ''Leisure'' and ''Business'' and those who fly on a business leg will receive a better/more extensive catering like I've had with them years ago. My flight to Valencia I only had a small sandwich from FRA (which tkes about 2.5 hours), while a month later I received a hot meal with side dishes on a flight to Madrid..... I understand the theory, but it is a lot to be desired and I don't actually like it...
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Thanks for the report and I hope it wasn't too much of a hassle to find your way back to Turkey.
Hi ThomasDutch and thanks for stopping by,
- Unfortunately, LH is not the only one doing this, mostly American carriers do this on their Domestic First product; while someone would get a hot meal with a salad and dessert on a Chicago-New York or Chicago - Washington DC route, they would only offer that cheap snack basket ( maybe a pre-packed wrap on select flights ) on a flight to Kansas City or Oklahoma City from these cities. However, yes, this is a bit bothering.
- I also remember that the classic Lufthi veggie sandwich being served on BIO-FRA back in 2011, however, that route is much shorter than other Spanish routes.
- As an av-geek who enjoys flying, it was obviously not a hassle. I wait for the day I'll be back in the air.
Thanks for your comments and hope to see you on another report.