Review of Lufthansa CityLine flight Pula Munich in Economy

Airline Lufthansa CityLine
Flight LH1723
Class Economy
Seat 11A
Flight time 01:05
Take-off 17 Jul 21, 10:05
Arrival at 17 Jul 21, 11:10
CL   #89 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 238 reviews
NewYorker
By 362
Published on 19th August 2021

introduction


Hi everyone! Welcome to the third of four installments of this series, regarding my "Maturareise" to the Croatian peninsula of Istria. Upon finishing high school, Austrian classes go to some sunny destination to celebrate their graduation and the start of a new chapter in their lives. While most of the rest of the class drove to and from Croatia, I flew, and therefore was able to earn precious miles that I couldn't earn in 2020. For this flight, however, I wasn't alone, as two of my classmates flew on an MUC-PUY roundtrip. Having them with me made the journey even more enjoyable!


trip information


I booked these flights as a multi-city itinerary. As I needed to be in Sofia on July 19th, I terminated the trip there. The trip would include 4 flights on 3 different airlines, flying on 4 different aircraft types, and passing through 5 different airports. The routing is as follows:



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This leg would also be my first flight aboard a Lufthansa CityLine CRJ, my first time on a CRJ900, and my first CRJ flight since 2015!


the morning of departure


Even though our flight was scheduled to depart at 10:05 AM, my friends and I got to the airport at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM. Why, you may ask? Well, the rest of the group elected to leave our vacation rental at 5 AM in order to (wisely) avoid a long wait at the Croatian-Slovenian border (without a long wait at the border, the drive from Vodnjan, the town we stayed in, to Innsbruck is 6.5 hours). That meant that we could either sleep in and take a taxi or rise early and be driven to the airport by one of our classmates. Given that my friends were scammed out of 60 Euros by a taxi after arriving in Pula from Munich the Saturday before, we decided to suck it up and get a free ride.


The drive to the airport took us around 25 minutes, and we arrived at Pula Airport just as the clouds above were starting to become blue.


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We were unsure if the airport closes at night, but luckily it was open when we arrived, so we didn't need to stay outside in the rain.


pula airport (puy)


We walked inside to find something none of us had ever seen before: a completely empty and dark airport. It was a pretty cool experience, especially because the only thing that could be heard was the sound of rain falling on the metal roof. We took some pictures and audio recording to cherish the experience.


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After around 15 minutes, airport staff showed up and turned on the lights. My friends and I no longer had an airport all to ourselves.


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Slowly but surely, the passengers of the first flight of the day (a UIA E190 to Kiev) began to show up, and by 7 the airport finally felt alive (well, by small airport standards). The that time, the café opened, and I bought myself a slightly burned chocolate croissant for 10 Kuna (~1.30 Euros).


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Our time landside flew by (thanks to hours of fun, face-to-face, discussions - not all youths are addicted to electronics! 😜), and once we got our boarding passes from the Lufthansa counter as soon as it opened, we headed airside.


I should note that, for some reason, online check-in for flights originating from Croatia seems to be a bit of an issue. Lufthansa sent us to check-in with a Croatian site called Niko.hr, which I assume uses the same interface Alaska Airlines used in 1999 when they introduced the world's first online check-in 🙈 All three of us were on different bookings, and none of us were able to check-in - we got error messages every time we tried. Has anyone else had similar experiences in Croatia?


Security and immigration were both super quick, and literally within 60 seconds of queuing in we were airside.


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Pula's current airport terminal was completed in 1989. It's small and definitely gives off communist vibes, but it serves its purpose and is pretty comfortable to wait in. My one complaint is that there are barely any power outlets in the terminal - I only saw 1.


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Funnily enough, the departure boards don't just show the day's departures, but also the week's departures, all the way up to the following Saturday!


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My friends and I ended up sitting on the old aircraft seats, located in a corner off the beaten path. Can anyone tell what airline they are from?


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After a week of near constant sunshine, the weather in Pula that morning was sad and rainy. It also reflected our moods - there were a lot of tears in the morning as we said goodbye to our 15 classmates who were driving back.


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Fortunately, there was a terrace upstairs, which put a smile on my face!


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The terrace was quite nice, but I'd like to be back on a sunny day with a lot of traffic.


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Our aircraft was running late, but once I spotted it arrive from the terrace, I went back downstairs to snag a photo of it and then we headed to the gate.


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boarding + initial impressions


There was no gate announced, so instead passengers just lined up at the gate closest to the aircraft.


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That offered me the chance to take a closer look at our bird before it was time to board. Flying us to Munich was D-ACNG, an 11.9-year-old CRJ900 named 'Rothenburg ob der Tauber', after a picturesque town in Bavaria. November-Golf was delivered to the old Eurowings in October 2009 and transferred to Lufthansa CityLine in February 2016.


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So long, Croatia 🥺 we had an unforgettable week!


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When it was time to board, the gate agents told us to head over to Gate 3.


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Despite how close the aircraft was, we were herded into a bus. Since my flight from Frankfurt was parked farther and we walked upon arrival, I guess it was due to the rain.


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The ride was naturally very short. The ground staff was nice enough to only let a few people into the aircraft at a time, so that the rest could wait in the bus as opposed to outside in the rain.


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Close-ups of Rothenburg ob der Tauber as it was my turn to head inside.


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Looking towards the pointy nose.


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A cute small welcome message next to the door. This was my first time flying on an aircraft with the new Lufthansa livery!


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A very friendly purser greeted us at the door and passed out a disinfectant wipe as well as chocolates.


Passing the plaque with the coat of arms of Rothenburg.


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Making my way past Business Class…


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…into coach, and my seat, 11A. My friends were right behind me, in 12A&C.


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The chocolate and wipe that the purser handed at the door.


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Legroom was some of the tightest I've seen on an LH Group aircraft, but for this short flight it was more than manageable.


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Stretchy seatback pocket.


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In the literature pocket, the safety instructions card and the Onboard Delights menu.


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Antimacassar.


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PSU.


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Coat hook.


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lufthansa 1723 - pula to munich


Once all passengers were onboard and the cargo doors were closed, Captain Daniel welcomed us onboard and promised to fly us to Munich on the quickest route possible in order to make up for the delay.


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I was thrilled to hear the cabin door close, as that meant that I had the aisle seat to myself as well. It was one of few empty seats on the flight.


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Leaving our parking position.


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One last look at the tiny Pula Airport, my home of the past 5 hours!


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Backtracking.


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departure from pula


Lining up.


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"Lufthansa 7 X-Ray Victor, Runway 27, cleared for takeoff".


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And airborne.


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Nice view of Pula down below.


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Turning north.


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Cabin after departure.


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Takeoff video:



Last views of water, and a small tip of Brijuni National Park (more on that in the tourism bonus below!)


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mid-flight


In between cloud layers.


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Once the seatbelt sign was switched off, the crew started the service by - you guessed it - passing bottles of water around. I ate my chocolate at the same time.


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At our cruising altitude of 34,000ft.


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Before descending, I headed to the restroom. I got a kick out of the spacing on the sign under the toilet lid 🤣


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Before heading back to my seat, I sat in the last row, 25A. Had I not had company on this flight, I would sat here (as any true AvGeek would), due to its proximity to the engine.


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Look at that beautiful CF34! 😍


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The cabin looking forward. One of the flight attendants struck up a conversation with one of the passengers, which is nice to see. While I didn't have many interactions with the 2 crew members, they were both professional, kind, and clearly took pride in their job. What else could you ask for on an hour flight?


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arrival into munich


Commencing our descent south of Salzburg.


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Left turn as soon as we entered German airspace.


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A few minutes later, we were on approach for Munich's Runway 26R. Unfortunately, we didn't leave the gloomy weather behind :(


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Over the airport.


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Very smooth landing at 11:30 AM, 20 minutes late, after being in the air for a mere 43 minutes.


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Taxiing to our stand on the other side of the field.


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Landing video:



Passing the satellite terminal, which is still closed.


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Making a 180 into a stand…


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…next to another CL CRJ.


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Enter text here…


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Deplaning.


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routing of lh1723


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After departing Pula, we initially flew northeast and then a direct track towards Munich, where we arrived via waypoint NAPSA to Runway 26R. Our cruising was 34,000ft.


The bus ride to the terminal was a bit long, and as soon as we made it inside the terminal it was time to bid farewell to my friends, without whom I would not have been able to survive 5 hours at Pula Airport. They headed to immigration and their train to Innsbruck, while I headed upstairs for 4 and half more hours of waiting for yet another Lufthansa flight. Yay! We'll pick up the layover in the next and final installment. I hope you enjoyed this one, and please check out the tourism bonus below! 😃


tourism bonus - exploring istria


Bonus : Click here display
See more

Verdict

Lufthansa CityLine

6.9/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering6.5

Pula - PUY

7.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access5.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness9.0

Munich - MUC

8.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Unsurprisingly, it was a very pleasant (and short) flight with Lufthansa CityLine.

+ Professional cabin crew
+ Free water
+ No entertainment/WiFi

I wish that LH added some form of entertainment on their CL-operated CRJs, but I highly doubt that'll ever happen. Regardless of that, I had a great flight, especially thanks to the friends I was travelling with.

Related

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 578460 by
    Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
    I will try to write this comment in Croatian:

    Thanky ou ve rymuch fo r thi slovel yreport. Th at dar kair port wasa bi ts cary. Than ksg ood nessy ou we rein Cr oatia, no tin Tran silv ania! Ist ri aand itslove lylittl etow nsoff the beat enpath w er ea gre atch oicef oryour Mat urareis e. Brou ght mem orie sof myow ngrad uation trip. I’ms osorry you ha dto part way swith yo ur belo ved clas smates.

    Now back to English:
    Thanks for sharing! :D

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