Tried & Tested

Lufthansa A320-200 business class

14 Oct 2014 by GrahamSmith

CHECK-IN

I had spent the night before at the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel next to Terminal 4, so took the Heathrow Express, which is free to use for transferring terminals, to Terminal 2.

Arriving at T2 at 0600, I then walked for ten minutes before arriving at the departures hall. As I had checked-in online for the 0730 flight to Frankfurt the previous day, I headed straight for fast-track security, which took five or six minutes to clear.

THE LOUNGE

Once airside, I made the 90-second walk to the Lufthansa lounge, which is located to the right. At the time of my visit, this facility had been open for less than a week.

On my arrival, I was offered Champagne, orange juice or strawberry juice. As it was (very) early, I decided against any alcohol and instead opted for a glass of strawberry juice.

The largest Lufthansa lounge outside of Germany, the 1,600 sqm facility is divided into separate Business and Senator areas collectively seating 350 people, with 120 seats for Senator/Star Alliance first class passengers and 230 for alliance business class flyers.

The Senator lounge is at the back. As I was travelling business class, this area was off limits.

The Business area was very smart, with views over the apron and parquet flooring. Each seat had a plug and a selection of newspapers (both UK and German) and magazines were available.

As it was so early, the lounge was quite empty. I grabbed a light meal of bacon, scrambled egg and an apple juice and then, around 15 minutes later, made the five-minute walk to gate A26.

BOARDING

Boarding took place at 0710. Despite having priority, I decided to wait until 0720 and arrived at my seat at 0732.

THE SEAT

This two-class A320-200 contained 168 seats, including the middle seats that are kept free in business class. To view a seatplan, click here.

Business class is configured AC-DF and on this flight occupied the first eight rows. It is separated from economy by a moveable curtain. I was in seat 8A, in the last row.

The cabin looked smart decked out in typical Lufthansa two-tone light grey leather upholstery. The ultra-thin Recaro seat design allowed for enough legroom to be comfortable during this short-haul flight.

There was no IFE screen and the pocket on the back of the seat in front was a little tight, so wouldn’t easily be able to accommodate a larger book, for instance.

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE?

It really boils down to a choice of aisle or window seat, unless you have to dash off the aircraft first at the end of the flight, in which case the front row is for you.

THE FLIGHT

Shortly after boarding, I was offered a newspaper or a magazine. English-language titles included the Financial Times, Daily Mail and Newsweek.

Pushback occurred 18 minutes late at 0748. The aircraft then taxied for a quarter of an hour before taking-off at 0804.

Breakfast was served 20 minutes later. It consisted of cured ham, cheese, grapes, a croissant with red jelly jam and a light cheesecake-like dessert without the biscuit base. A bar of Dunkle Chocolade wrapped like an airmail parcel was also handed out.

To drink, I had an apple juice and an after-meal coffee. I also asked for a glass of water. However, when this was handed to me, a small piece of glass had broken off the rim. I informed the cabin attendant, who apologised and immediately replaced the glass (and water, obviously).

ARRIVAL

We began out descent at 0955 local time and landed at Frankfurt airport at 1010. A fairly lengthy taxi meant we arrived at the stand at 1024.

Unfortunately, it then took half an hour to pass through passport control., where there was a huge queue. There seemed to be enough staff, so I’m unsure why it took so long.

VERDICT

It was a pleasure to visit Lufthansa’s new Heathrow T2 lounge.

We took-off late and arrived 15 minutes behind schedule, followed by a 30-minute queue at passport control, although Lufthansa can’t be blamed for any of this. Service on the flight itself was very good.


FACT FILE

  • SEAT CONFIGURATION 3-3 with AC-DF in business class
  • SEAT PITCH 30in
  • SEAT WIDTH 18in
  • CONTACT lufthansa.com


Graham Smith

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