Review of Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Warsaw in Economy

Welcome

Guten Tag, Herren und Damen!

I finally found some time to wrap up my trip to Rome with this last report covering my short transfer at FRA, a short hop on LH A319 aircraft and a review of Lufthansa Onboard Delights catering concept. Any questions at all, please get in touch!

Enjoy :-) 

Flight details:
Flight number LH1352
Route Frankfurt am Main - Warsaw Chopin
Flight date 15th June 2021, 2050-2225 (actual 2059-2218)
Scheduled flight time 1:35 (actual 1:19)
Aircraft model Airbus A319
Aircraft registration D-AILL
Seating configuration CY138 (4 rows of Lufthansa Business)
Aircraft age (at the time of flight) 24.1 years
Seat number 6A
Departure gate A60 (jet bridge)
Arrival gate jet bridge gate at WAW
Load factor (approx.) 95%
Flight price 280 PLN/60 EUR for FCO-FRA-WAW (Eco basic)

Transfer at FRA

After a very unimpressive flight with Lufthansa from Rome, it was time to jump on the last short hop back to Warsaw. Our previous flight left us at "ASO arrivals", which are the bus arrivals but it turned out to be a quite convenient point for any onward journey, even with short connection times (me: 40 mins). There were no additional COVID-related checks and so I found myself at my new gate, A60, 8 minutes after the bus dropped us off (bear in mind I am a fast-walker!).

The airport was very empty so it was easy to make your way through the terminal. Also, many shops and restaurants remained closed (mid-June).

On the way to my gate I spotted this good-looking new Cupra. I think German airports are known for having cars exhibited in terminals, aren't they?

Strangely enough, my flight LH1352 was the first one to depart after my previous flight had arrived! So air travel is recovering, yet still slowly.

When I arrived at my gate, A60, the boarding still hadn't started. So I had a bit of time to relax after my fast walk. I could already see it was going to be a crazy busy flight, especially that the aircraft was switched from A320-Sharklets to an A319.

I waited patiently and boarded as one of the last passengers which turned out not to have been the best tactic on this flight as I could barely find place for my hand luggage.

FLIGHt LH1352 to Warsaw

Despite being a busy flight, the boarding for LH1352 was quite efficient I must say, thanks to both the crew and passengers, and ground staff. There was not too much going on at the apron but, I managed to spot some wide bodies, an A330 standing next to us (and a 747 in the far background).

Now time for something special, as the 15th of June 2021 was the day of the Germany vs. France football match (Euro 2020), the German crew decided to have some fun and show support to their team. They put German flags on the aircraft doors and at cockpit windows for boarding and also had German flags painted on their face masks.

Inflight, the captain also made an announcement about the match score, unfortunately for some passengers, it was a goal for France, who eventually won that match. This shows Lufthansa crew doesn't have to be that dull!

At the entrance, I was welcomed by 2 crew members, who seemed to be rather more interested in the match than in the flight (:p) and I was also given the very-well-known disinfecting tissue.

Like I said, finding a place for my hand luggage in the overhead bin proved to be a challenging task but I finally managed to squeeze it somewhere between business and economy class divider. I then took my seat 6A next to two very formally dressed gentleman from Poland.

When I sat down, I could feel the age of the aircraft. The seat wasn't the sturdiest and also was creaking a bit. The legroom on the other hand was ample.

I also appreciate that there is a separate literature compartment alongside the seat pocket, the seat also reclines a bit. All in all, not bad, yet these old Lufthansa Group seats are not my favourite seats in Europe.

We were ready for pushback on time and departed only a few minutes late which is highly appreciated on late evening flight as you want to be back home as soon as possible. And I must say, my Lufthansa experience has been so far very good, regarding punctuality.

A lovely takeoff in the sunset, directly towards Warsaw. Yet the 24-year-old engines made a really unpleasant howling sound, not the cute buzz we're used to from other A320s… :( A few minutes after takeoff, there was an automatic announcement from the speakers that the Lufthansa FlyNet Internet service is available on this flight. I wasn't however able to access it at all (only the home page).

In terms of other entertainment forms, this aircraft (like all LH short haul aircrafts), is not equipped with power or USB outlets and does not have overhead monitors. However, you can download some press or magazines for free before departure. Not too long after, the crew started on board sales. For those of you not familiar, in short haul Economy, all food now needs to be purchased on Lufthansa flights. You will only get a water bottle and a chocolate for free. The service started with a free bottle of water.

I also went, in addition, for the falafel tahini salad with lemon dressing and ciabatta bread, and a sparkling lemonade. The guy from crew that served me was much more professional than people on my previous flight FCO-FRA. He also sent a few smiles which is always nice to see.

Coming back to the salad, however - the portion was huge - in fact the items barely fit onto the tray table (which was quite big anyway!). Regarding taste… hmm not my type. I wouldn't choose it again. Everything was fresh but slightly dry and unimpressive when it comes to taste. I would rate SWISS buy on board options much higher than the ones I tried at Lufthansa (I haven't tried Austrian yet).

After the meal, the crew made a round with chocolates, which again, tasted worse (in my opinion) than the ones from SWISS. They also collected Passenger Locator Forms for Poland (warning: this is a flight from 15.06.2021, PLFs for Poland must now be filled in online only).

We were soon landing into a pitch black Warsaw, a few minutes ahead of schedule and we docked into a jet bridge gate next to an E295 from KLM which will depart together with Lufthansa the following morning.

Last two looks at the seats while people were disembarking:

From the jet bridge we were sent to the border control to either show a negative COVID test result, a vaccination certificate or give details for quarantine. But the control wasn't that stringent this time.

So yeah, after a 4-day trip to Rome I arrived to my beloved home, Poland, Warsaw. Not for too long though! See you in my next report ;)

Mateusz