LHR-HAM, 20/01/12

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18 years 6 months

Posts: 2,343

Hi all,

A non-photo trip report for my flight from London to Hamburg earlier today.

Flight No.: LH3391
Airline: Lufthansa
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Registration: D-AIQW (MSN 1367)
STD: 08:45
STA: 11:20
ATD: 08:??
ATA: 11:08

I checked-in online the night before, and got my boarding pass sent to my mobile, which is the first time I have used such a facility but it worked perfectly. I was also only taking hand luggage with me, so this ensured a speedy process through the airport in the morning.

Arrived at Terminal 1 with plenty of time to spare, collected some EUR's from the currency exchange desk, and then went through security. Security was not too bad, queued up for about 10mins. Caused a bit of delay for myself though as the security officer asked me if I was wearing a belt, and I said "No", touched my jeans only to realise I was (:o)...was clearly not quite awake at the time!

The screens showed the gate for the flight was due to open at 08:05, so I chose to go to Pret and got myself something to eat and drink.

Sure enough, at 08:05 the gate was announced...Gate 5, which is advertised as a 20min walk from the main departure lounge, and is past bmi's International Business Lounge, but as it was just myself travelling I managed to get there within 10mins.

Gate 5 is a fairly small gate area split into various different gates, each categorised by letters (5a, 5b, 5c, etc.). There is quite a lot of seats, but I think you would struggle to get one if all the gates were in use at the same time and the flights were busy/full.

Unfortunately, I could not get any decent photos of my aircraft whilst it was parked up as there is a seperate walkway area for those people who arrive into LHR on flights that use Gate 5.

Whilst we were waiting for boarding to commence, another Lufthansa flight from FRA arrived.

Boarding commenced at approx 08:30, and was done very quickly and efficiently. I picked up a newspaper from the rack that was on the jetbridge, just so that I had something to read whilst onboard.

Lufthansa's A320's are configured with a Business Class cabin, which is basically a set of 3 economy seats, however the middle seat doubles as a table in order to provide a bit of extra room for the two customers that would sit either side, and it is seperated from the Economy cabin by a curtain. I suspect that this can be moved back and forward to accomodate for more or less demand in Business if/when necessary.

The aircraft was really nice and clean, and I was greeted in German by the Purser and another flight attendant when I stepped onboard.

I did have a bit of difficulty in finding my seat at first as I could not see where the seat row numbers were...they are located on the panel which displays the no-smoking and seat-belt signs, whereas I was looking just below the overhead bin.

I was sat in Seat 9C (aisle), simply because I often need to get up to go to the toilet, and I personally would rather sit in an aisle than in the window and then end up having to disturb other passengers. The downside to this of course is that you cannot gaze out of the window and/or take any photos. The middle seat was vacant, and the window was occupied by a middle-aged German male.

It was a pretty light load as there was only approx 30 pax in Economy, and probably about 4-6 people in Business.

Both the cabin and flightdeck crew were nice and pleasant throughout the flight. The Captain welcomed us onboard and gave us some brief details prior to push-back, and then came back on the PA whilst we were in-flight to give us more details about our routing, expected arrival time into HAM, and also the weather.

After a fairly long and bumpy taxi, we departed from Runway 27R.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful really. A drink and a snack was provided, which consisted of a croissant, some orange juice and tea or coffee. The croissant was nice as it was filled with a really sweet filling that actually tasted like you were eating a piece of Batternburg cake.

Upon arrival into HAM, we arrived at Gate 36 in Terminal 2. I asked to go up to see the Captain and the Purser said "Yes, sure!". They were both quite busy finishing off their paperwork, so I didn't pester them too much. The one thing that did surprise me the most though was the amount of space in there. Seeing as I am so used to going into the cockpit of a 757-200 when I am work, the A320 seems far more spacious. When I mentioned this to the Captain, he replied "Yeah, that's the problem with Boeing...they build their aircraft, and then they think about what they have to fit inside it, rather than the other way round!" I did take a quick photo on my phone, but it came out all blurry so I can't post it up I am afraid.

I got off the plane and went up the jetbridge; parked next to us was a BA A320.

Immigration was a breeze, and as I did not need to stop in the baggage hall, I was through in no time at all.

I stopped off at the information desk to get a map and also enquired about the best way to get into the city and onto Finkenwerder. The lovely lady behind the desk told me the quickest way was to get the S1 Schnellbahn train to "Landungsbrücken", and then get the "62" ferry over to Finkenwerder. When I said that I was going to go to the Airbus factory, she said that I would need to get the 150 bus. When I enquired about the cost, she advised me to buy a day ticket that covered all modes of transport, including the ferry, would be the best option as I could then use it get back into the city.

I will post up another thread that will cover my trip to Finkenwerder and also Miniatur Wunderland tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed reading.:)

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