Tried & Tested

Lufthansa B747-8 business class

12 Apr 2013 by Tom Otley

First impressions I had checked in for my flight 23 hours earlier on line, and selected a seat on the main deck of business class, since I had flown over to Hong Kong on the upper deck a few days earlier. To see that flight review, click here.

During that flight I had become convinced that there was more room in the centre two seats in business class on the lower deck, and so I had selected one of these, though by the time I did so, only one seat was available, right at the front of the cabin in 4G.

I arrived at Hong Kong airport at 2200 for the 2350 departure, dropped off my two bags in Zone F and then went through security and walked slowly to almost the far end of the terminal where I used the United Lounge.

The Lounge The United Lounge was very busy but it was possible to find somewhere to sit and I had a drink and used the free wifi as the lounge gradually emptied.

Boarding I had been told that for some reason only one air bridge was available for boarding our aircraft, and so the plan was to get all the economy passengers on board before boarding business class, and so our normal boarding time of 2245 had been changed to 2305. This worked, because the flight was called from the lounge, we walked down to Gate 66 and then were straight onto the aircraft.

When I got to my seat someone was sitting in it. I pointed this out to him, and he looked surprised that I thought it worth comment and gestured to the window seat that was empty because he had vacated it. When I made it clear I had selected the seat and intended to sit in it he moved.

The seat There are two business class cabins on the main deck, one large, and one small just aft of the galley. To see a seatplan click here.

This is a three-class configuration, with 262 economy seats, 92 business and eight first class seats. Those 92 business class seats are distributed with 60 on the main deck, and 32 seats on the upper deck, with the lower deck being 2-2-2 and the upper deck being 2-2. To see a previous flight review on a special flight from Frankfurt to Washington DC click here.

Once again, to see a review of the outbound flight on the upper deck click here. This review concentrates on the lower deck.

The first point is that the most roomy seats in the new Lufthansa business class are these centre seats - D and G. I was ready for the difference to be small, but it’s not, it’s large. The foot well has more room for your feet, the side table is much larger, with the headphones, IFE control and table being arranged differently, and in the case of the table, makes it easier to extricate from the arm.

Perhaps I was lucky, but even the table itself felt firmer than the one I had used on the upper deck, and certainly it didn’t slide around so much.

I was in a bulkhead seat (front row) which meant that there were slight differences in the seat – my foot rest was in the wall in front for instance, instead of in the back of the seat in front of me, but walking up and down the cabin looking at the other seats, there didn’t seem to be any major differences in that amount of room between these centre seats.

One of the main benefits of D and G seats is that with a 2-2-2 configuration, in both D and G you have direct access to the aisle and of course do not have anyone climbing over you.

On the upper deck window seats have large side storage bins for us, and of course this does not apply on the main deck, but the overhead lockers are very large, and in addition the personal storage spaces are slightly roomier than you get on the upper deck.

By the side of the footrest there are two storage spaces, one which is open which pulls out slightly for putting in books or personal items (this was large enough for me to put in my laptop when I had finished working), and then another which has a handle and angles out from the wall – in here you will find an amenity kit with flight socks, eye mask, ear plugs, toothbrush and toothpaste and lip salves, and a bottle of water.

The washrooms on the lower deck on both sides are very large and have a bench with a pale leather cushion on top – you lift up half of this to find the toilet. It is useful if you want to change, for instance.

Best seats definitely the middle seats D and G. Avoid the front row (where I was), and the back row, but any of those in rows 5-8 would be fine. I went back and had a look at the small business class cabin between the galley and economy behind. It would be fine for a day flight I suppose so but I think too noisy for the night.

The journey was quite strange. We took off and then for 30 minutes the seat belts sign remained on, during which time even the flight attendants remained seated, but did nothing when a couple of passengers stood up, one even going off to the toilet for five minutes during some turbulence.

After some 30 minutes the light turned off, but still there was no inflight entertainment on, though we could watch the moving map, and once I could walk around the cabin I went back to the galley and saw they were struggling to reset the system. After 50 minutes they came on the tannoy to admit their problems and to thank us for our patience. I learned later that this was the latest of the new B747-8 aircraft to join the fleet, so perhaps this had something to do with it.

It seemed that the problem also affected the in-seat power which I was using (it takes UK plugs without adaptors, as well as US and European plugs), so I made sure to get as much work done as possible without wasting my battery time on my laptop. Eventually after 80 minutes the system was reset, and my laptop screen suddenly got brighter as it started to charge once more. The entertainment finally started and then the power went off again, so I told the purser and he turned it back on again, but no luck, so my neighbour kindly said I could use his power point, and I carried on working. It’s a long flight, and all this passed the time.

The drinks service started at 0050, which was late, and the meal service was slow after that, though the service was excellent when it came, and helpful with all the power issues, and being at the front of the cabin means you get served first. The menu follows:

Starters:

  • Vodka salmon gravalax, mustard dill sauce
  • Roasted beef carpaccio, pesto and parmesan shaving
  • Romaine and rucola with roast pumpkin, tomato, walnut and parmesan shaving presented with creamy French dressing

Main courses:

  • Chicken Zurichoise, spatzle and braised carrot
  • Togarashi seasoned halibut with Chinese lemon sauce, steamed rice, sugar peas
  • Pappardelle with mushroom and Taleggio cheese, grilled vegetables

Cheese and dessert:

  • Brie, Danish blue and Double Gloucester cheese
  • Crisp chocolate praline bar, whipped cream,
  • Fresh fruit

The wine selection was exactly the same as on the flight out a few days earlier:

  • Champagne: Duval Leroy Brut
  • Reds: 2008 Chateau La Raze Beauvallet, Medoc Cru Bourgeois; 2008 Chateau La Roque de By, Medoc; 2010 Two Vines Shiraz, Columbia Valley Vineyards, Chateau St Michelle, USA
  • Whites: 2011 White Troika, Ihringer Weissburgunder, WG Ihringen, Germany; 2011 Bramito del Cervo, Chardonay, Castello della Sala, Italy.

There was also a good selection of spirits and liquors, but I was most impressed by the presence of a non-alcoholic Warsteiner which I had enjoyed on the way over, so I drank a couple of those with the provided salted and roasted almonds while I worked.

Eventually it was time for sleep as the cabin lights were dimmed. By now about three hours of the flight had passed, and I estimate that the seatbelt sign had been on for all but 30 minutes of it. Safety comes first, of course, and throughout the flight it was extremely bumpy but I’m afraid I still used the washroom before going to sleep.

I slept reasonably well, though of course it is noisy in the front row, and prone to temperature variation, particularly when the curtain is left open by passengers using the washroom. I was also woken several times with announcements in three languages (German, English, and Mandarin or Cantonese – sorry, I still can’t tell the difference) about the seat belt sign being turned on again. Eventually I woke to hear the breakfast service coming past with around 70 minutes of the journey remaining (so around 4.10am German time).

Breakfast:

  • Muesli
  • Assorted cold cuts, Edam and Brie cheese
  • Mushroom leek, tomato omelette, chicken sausage, new potato and spinach.

As we finished the food, the flight information appeared on the IFE for connecting flights.

Arrival There was no delay in landing at a very wet Frankfurt airport, and we landed at 0515 then had a 15 minute taxi to the airport. Since I was at the front of the cabin I was one of the first off, and made my way to the B gates, going through another security check (no queue) before heading for the business class lounge ready for my connecting flight to London Heathrow

Verdict The centre seats are best, and I’d choose them again, though gong for a row further away from the front next time. The service was excellent, but slow, and of course the IFE problems unavoidable, but they dealt with them well.

There was nothing they could do about the turbulence either, but at no time was I worried, because we’d been warned about it before we set off by the captain and because the flight attendants kept serving food right through the worst of it (no hot drinks, though).

Lufthansa’s new lounges at Frankfurt, new aircraft and new business class seats make it definitely one to try for flights down to Asia (21 destinations, in total).

Contact lufthansa.com

Tom Otley

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