Second step of my stay in Gothenburg, a flight between Paris and Frankfurt on Lufthansa in business class on Airbus A319. It was an opportunity for me to experience the airline’s “COVID” facility and to rediscover Roissy’s terminal 2C in almost nostalgic mode.
As a reminder, the program of the articles related to this trip.
- Hilton Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport – Executive Room
- Paris-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class (Here)
- Frankfurt-Gothenburg, Lufthansa Business Class
- Restaurant VRA, Gothenburg
- Clarion Hotel Post, Standard Double Room
- Restaurant Koka, Gothenburg
- Radisson Blue Scandinavia – Junior Suite
- Restaurant Natur, Gothenburg
- Upper House Gothenburg – Deluxe Suite
- Restaurant l’Atelier Gothenburg
- Gothenburg-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
- Frankfurt-Paris, Lufthansa Business Class
Check-in and ground course in Paris
I check-in the day before with no problem from the Lufthansa app. In the morning of the flight I join the T2 of Roissy from the Hilton CDG without any problem with the CDG Val. The T1 being closed because of insufficient traffic I go to the 2C from where Lufthansa operates now.
The Roissypole RER station is desperately empty.
No better at 2C…
I will finally see more police officers than passengers!
I head to the airside part of the terminal. Since my last visit, which was a long time ago, the two terminals 2A and C have been combined.
There are not many people but the priority queues are active which allows me to save a little time. And it all starts with … a police check.
As 2C is not designed for Schengen flights, all passengers are forced to go through it on departure and arrival, as the terminal also hosts many non-Schengen flights. Since in these complicated times, anything is enough to put me in a bad mood…
The security is then passed without problem and I join the boarding gates.
As recent as the renovations and the 2A-2C junction are, the route from security to the gates frankly feels like a second-class airport.
The terminal is almost deserted.
Stores closed, restaurants closed, bars closed… Creepy as can be.
The lounges being also closed (and anyway Lufthansa does not have a lounge in 2C) I walk a little to pass the time.
Nostalgic moment at gate C91.
It is indeed at this gate that I had my first upgrade in business on a long haul flight. It was a Paris-New York on Air France and I think but am not sure it was in 2006. And my last visit to 2C as I remember (I think I went back to 2A around 2012 or 2013 for a professional trip to Miami on American Airlines…)
The time of boarding is approaching and I reach my gate where the passengers have started to show up.
Boarding in Paris
Group 1, 2, 3…. signage is unclear and no one knows which line to get into. The announcements without microphone are not very audible and obviously a hardware problem prevents the scanning of boarding passes in the Group 1 line, which forces it to divert to another booth…which it was in front of 10 minutes earlier before being ordered to change line.
A joyful mess but everything happens in a good mood. It is understandable that the airlines which do not evolve in the 2C “at home” do not have their marks but on the other hand this joke has been going on for months.
For the sake of it I give you my best smile of the moment.
For once, no little note written with a marker on the door of the plane at Lufthansa…
At the entrance of the plane the welcome is cordial and smiling (well…you can guess it under the mask) I am given a disinfectant wipe and a “sanitary” tracing form that will be picked up later by the crew.
Being in connection in Frankfurt I will not have to fill it. I can’t help but smile at all these measures. Who will control who is in connection and who is not? What prevents from writing down fancy information. Anyway.
During this time a lady and her son settle next to me so that the central seat is no longer blocked. I tell myself that for such a short flight she could leave her son at his seat and not take him next to her… I already can’t stand having a neighbor on a plane, but I can’t stand having one on a business seat that should be blocked, and even more so in a health crisis.
The purser intercepts my dark look and immediately comes to ask the two passengers to present their tickets. It wasn’t as I thought two business passengers who couldn’t find two seats next to each other and decided to get closer anyway, but the passengers of row 20 who had mistakenly “confused” with row 2. They are urged to return to their seats.
The business class cabin on A319 on Lufthansa
What to say about this business cabin on A319…except that it looks like the one of the A320 and A321 of the airline with an appreciable room for the legs. And since I lost the habit of flying this year I forgot to take a picture of it, that’s all I’ll tell you about it.
The plane is 3/4 full, including the business cabin.
The Lufthansa Business Class flight and service
We push back on time. Obviously in the current context the taxiing to the runway is very short.
The Air China family came in full force!
After the takeoff we are brought a bottle of water. This was not in the old protocol…
Then the orders of drinks are taken which will be brought with the meal tray. The health protocol has had the trolley service (temporarily?) killed, which is a substantial improvement in service quality.
For me it will be as usual red wine and sparkling water.
We are served very quickly (and I would even say very early in the flight).
The platter looks good, but unlike other restaurants, Lufthansa has not eliminated or cut back on its business class services, disguising this cost-cutting as a health measure, but I find that the quantities on the plate have decreased compared to my previous experiences.
On the other hand it’s 11am, I’m not going to die. The bread is hot. The food tastes good but, again, I find the quantities less generous than before, even on a flight of only one hour.
The mango coulis lover that I am will particularly appreciate the dessert
Without my having to ask for anything, I will be served wine three more times.
Uneventful end of the flight until arrival in Frankfurt
The Lufthansa crew
As usual on Lufthansa a very professional and friendly crew. Afterwards, I knew some warmer ones but as often it went very well.
The welcome was impeccable, the information on health paperwork was given with patience to those who asked for it (after a while it must be tiresome), the “bug” of the occupid middle seat at boarding was solved in a glance and the service was very friendly and efficient without the need to cry for refills that came naturally without asking anything.
Landing and arrival in Frankfurt
The arrival in Frankfurt is smooth and for once, due to reduced traffic, my flight arriving from Paris does not land on the usual runway 25L in the north of the airport but on the 25C just in front of the terminals which I am more used to in long haul.
Unfortunately there are some things that don’t change in Frankfurt that end up being annoying. Despite the low traffic and the fact that we have a parking space at terminal A and potentially at the gate…the disembarkation will still be by bus!
I finally ended up in the terminal in Frankfurt. What to say? At least most of the stores are open and if there are much less people than usual it is still more pleasant and lively than Roissy.
My opinion on this business class flight on Lufthansa
Lufthansa can’t help the fact that the experience at 2C is so depressing nor (although) the too frequent use of the bus for disembarkation in Frankfurt (although…)
For the rest a solid performance even if I find that the service has been trimmed in quantity.
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