Before leaving for Australia I have to reach Stockholm, which I will do on a Lufthansa flight, in business class, via Munich.
Here is the routing of the trip.
You will find at the bottom of the page all the articles detailing this trip in Australia.
Booking
The booking was made one month before the trip on the Lufthansa website. The best time/price combination gave me an outbound flight on Lufthansa via Munich and a return on Swiss via Zurich. All this for 450 euros.
Arrival at the airport and check-in
I arrive at Roissy from the Courtyard via the CDG Val. Lufthansa still operates from terminal 2D and check in at 2B until terminal 1 reopens at the end of 2022, so I have a long walk through the airport corridors to check in my bag.
At 5:15 am Roissy is empty.
No one in sight in the queue at Lufthansa when I go to check in.
The formalities will take 2 minutes with a very pleasant agent. And I leave from 2B to 2D to pass the security controls. Until then I was using my suitcase as a walker and the long walk in the corridor makes me think that I will really have to be vigilant throughout my stay.
The agents are quite aggressive and jump on the passengers yelling “creams or perfumes?” in their ears instead of letting them quietly unpack their stuff.
I need a plastic bag for my liquids and I royally ignore the yelling moron in front of me to ask for one to his colleague next door who is obviously more calm.
This aside, 1 minute later I am airside.
40 minutes from the hotel to airside, for someone who walks on one leg: I am quite happy.
Let’s go for the traditional crossing of the Duty Free which we cannot escape to reach the boarding gates.
There are already a few people waiting patiently for the beginning of the boarding scheduled in about twenty minutes and the signage is not yet in place at the gate.
I’ll go buy water at the nearby Relay and wait here: I don’t feel like walking to the Sheltair lounge again and spending only 10 minutes there, especially since the said lounge is without the slightest interest. [NB: it has since been replaced by another lounge by the way)
Boarding
Boarding starts on time. In theory it’s a group boarding but due to the low number of passengers only one line is used and it’s a bit messy. First come first served and there will be little respect for priorities.
Cabin and settling in on board.
I finally get into the aircraft and find this good old NEK seat cherished by Lufthansa Group and that if it started to be replaced by the new Geven Essenza on almost the entire fleet at Austrian (see here on Paris-Vienne) it continues to make resistance in the parent airline.
There is no need to present it to you any further as it has been seen and reviewed here, nor to explain why it has earned the nickname of ironing board. However, the look and feel of the cabin is still premium and pleasant.
There will be 3 rows of business class on this flight.
I appreciate the always comfortable legroom in the front rows at Lufthansa and as usual in the eurobusiness cabins the middle seat will be neutralized.
In fact this neutralization will turn out to be useless: I will be the only business class passenger on this flight. It’s a bit logical: if a flight at 6am makes sense for business customers, it makes much less sense on a Saturday morning. So unless you are forced to by a connection, which is my case…
The flight is operated with A319 and not with the usual A320 and 321.
The flight and the service
We’ll leave on time. The cabin’s light intensity is reduced in preparation for takeoff.
We finally pierce the cloudy layer and I see for the first time a piece of blue sky since a few days.
The purser comes to me and tells me that as I am the only passenger in business I can choose the seat that suits me. I would have noticed it without him, but it gives him a chance to make contact and do a little care. The crew will address me by my name during the entire flight.
The meal arrives.
Someone at Lufthansa will have to explain to me the point of having square trays protruding from a shelf that will always be rectangular.
The advantage of the neutralization of the central seat is that you have room to put your drinks.
The croissant is warm and not like a chewing gum.
Cold cuts and and cheese will be good but I would have signed up for one or two more slices. But as we were talking about it recently with Olivier, we would like all the airlines to be inspired by British Airways which serves hot food at breakfast on all its medium-haul flights, whatever the duration.
The sweet dish with a kind of cream will finally be quite light.
I would get refills of tea and soda water throughout the flight. 4 times if I remember correctly. Lufthansa is never stingy on refills.
A good breakfast in short and a very attentive service.
I enjoy the quietness of an empty cabin.
Before landing, the purser comes to offer me some chocolates. I think he wants me to become diabetic.
Landing and arrival in Munich
Nothing notable to report until the arrival at the terminals. The opportunity to take a nice family picture.
Something (unfortunately) common in Frankfurt and less so in Munich, we are parked at a remote stand and will have to disembark by bus, which I hate. The time that everything is in place for the disembarkation the head of the cabin comes to see me.
“You’re doing well in Sweden right? Your connection is announced on time for now there is nothing to worry about. Do you live there?”
“[Sourire] Uh no…”
Nice attention.
On my side I start to calculate. I have 20 minutes before the boarding for Stockholm, we disembark by bus, I do not walk very quickly. It should be fine but let’s be vigilant.
I end up boarding the bus that drops us off at the bottom of the terminal a few minutes later.
More in the next issue…
Bottom line
A very good flight despite the early hour which is a bit painful. The cabin was empty and the crew took the opportunity to pay extra attention. I appreciate it.
Routing and posts related to this trip
Paris-Munich en business class sur Lufthansa
Enregistrement
Embarquement
Cabine : siège
Cabine : propreté
Divertissement en vol
Nourriture : goût
Nourriture : recherche
Nourriture : présentation
Nourriture : choix
Personnel :Service
Personnel : disponibilité, amabilité
Débarquement
Lounges / service et expérience au sol
Ponctualité
Rapport Expérience/prix
Très bon vol
Cabine vide et équipage qui en profite pour bien s'occuper du seul passager. Malgré l'heure matinale un vol très agréable.