Tried & Tested

Lufthansa A319 Business class

12 May 2010 by AndrewGough

BACKGROUND Lufthansa now serves the Estonian capital of Tallinn from both its northern and southern German hubs (Frankfurt and Munich). The Munich service is new to Lufthansa, however the Frankfurt route has been around for a number of years. The newer Munich flight, which leaves Tallinn in the morning, compliments the evening Frankfurt service which departs at 1830. For passengers transiting on to Tallinn (e.g. from Heathrow), it is possible to pick and choose hubs thereby increasing flexibility over flight times. The Frankfurt flight (LH3179), is served by a two-class A319-100 and the official flight time is two hours and 20 minutes. Arrival time in Frankfurt is 1950 local time (-1hr).

CHECK-IN I arrived at Tallinn Airport at 1640 and joined the back of a queue for the business class check-in that was about ten people deep. I was in the queue for about ten minutes before I reached the desk. Having checked-in, I joined the queue for security, which was quite long and took a while to be processed. There was no priority lane for business/first class, however the security measures here were less stringent than at other airports, for example I was allowed to keep my shoes and watch on, which all made things a bit smoother.

THE LOUNGE The Lufthansa lounge at Tallinn is by gate six, which is a five minute walk from security. The two-floor lounge was small by Lufthansa’s standards, and appeared slightly dated compared to the slick new lounges at Munich and Frankfurt. The buffet was modest with a few snacks such as quiche and pasties. Alcohol was better represented here, with a full-length fridge filled top to bottom with all manner of local brews. There was also an Estonian beer on tap, which was excellent. There wasn’t much in the way of newspapers, there was only one of copy of each and these could not be taken away. There was however a nice big plasma TV, which at the time was showing the Grand Prix.

BOARDING Gate eight was called at 1810, earlier than expected. Luckily it was a stone’s throw from the lounge, and I was able to keep one eye on the queue. Again, there was no priority boarding but the A319 is a small plane and boarding was quite quick. I was in my seat by 1830, about the time the plane was due to take off.

THE SEAT Seat 3D, on the aisle, was on first appearances much the same as the short haul business class seat I’d flown out on a few days earlier (to read the outbound reviews, click here). To see a seatplan for this A319, click here.

The business class seats are the same as in economy, except for one inch more legroom. The inside armrest was also adjusted to make the seat a little wider. This armrest is moved in towards the middle seat, which is unsold and in which sits an extra table.

In all other ways the seats in business are the same as in economy, and the curtain dividing the two cabins is moved according to demand. On this flight, there were only three rows of business, and I was in the last one.

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? On this flight, the person behind me happened to be very tall, and so often extended his leg down the aisle beside me and through the dividing curtain. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with this, but I still found it very annoying and an invasion of my personal space. It’s hard to recommend a way of avoiding this, other than to go for a row as far forward as possible.

Otherwise, I would say go for seat 1C. There is a bulkhead separating row 1 from the exit, but this only extends across seats 1A and 1B.

In economy, try and get a seat as far forward as possible, if not an exit row seat. This is because, as mentioned above, the economy/business cabin curtain is moved in line with demand. If demand in economy is high, the curtain is moved forwards and there’s a chance you’ll get a business class seat with a little more legroom.

THE FLIGHT We pushed off at 1840 and ten minutes later we were up in the air. Unfortunately that put us 20 minutes behind schedule. The service on this flag was notably excellent, both members of cabin crew were amiable and seemed genuinely eager to help, possibly to a fault but then such attentive service is rare in the air.

Half an hour into the flight, a light meal was served: Parma ham and melon with grilled courgette; a small salmon fillet (cooked perfectly rare) and noodles with beans and sweet chilli sauce; fruit and liqueur in a chocolate cup. There was also a choice of warm rolls with butter. There was the option of having beef instead of fish, but they’d run out of the former, my only serious gripe as I had already eaten salmon that day.

ARRIVAL We landed at 2010 local time, 20 minutes late. Unfortunately this meant we hadn’t made up any of the time lost due to our late departure. However, it did not take long to taxi to the terminal itself, and we quickly disembarked. As I was transiting on to Heathrow, I stayed airside, and made my way to the Lufthansa business class lounge.

VERDICT The food was delicious, and the service top notch. The facilities at Tallinn could do with a refresh, but all in all an excellent flight.

PRICE A mid-week return in June, from Lufthansa’s website, starts at EEK12,777 (£703).

CONTACT lufthansa.com

Andrew Gough

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