Adventures with Lufthansa and FTU Amsterdam – LH958 Frankfurt to Birmingham
- Would I like to speak at FTU? Umm. Yes!
- To the airport, LH953 Birmingham to Frankfurt
- An (un)expected extended layover
- LH996 Frankfurt to Birmingham (Business Class)
- The Park Inn Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
- Speaking at FTU Amsterdam
- LH997 Amsterdam Schiphol to Frankfurt Main
- What is the meaning of the words “Reasonable Connection” at Frankfurt?
- LH958 Frankfurt to Birmingham (This section)
- Learning goes both directions
Wearily, I made my way aboard the waiting Airbus A319 with a more friendly crew than before, and headed down to my seat down the back of the plane.
More NEK seating. Still a bench.
Boarding was a rather quick affair as we were late commencing boarding. Thankfully, by the time we were pushing back everyone was sat down.
NEK A319 seating – good legroom, shame about the padding…
It’s still rather foggy out…
Eventually – pushback commenced, and it was time for another safety demonstration. Thankfully even as the fog was still dense, out taxi was a short one to a runway.
Parked planes
Another Lufthansa short haul service lining up for take off.
Shortly, it was the plane I was on turn, and the engines spooled up – the last time for me on this trip
The plane continued its climb past the fog layer back into the clear sky.
That’s one nasty fog layer.
Yup. Still nasty.
Much higher – you can see the fog layer below, whilst in the distance clear skies.
The cabin itself was quiet during the climb.
And I had another go at making a GhettoIFE system onboard these plane (not a great one admittedly).
I’m still getting used to making GhettoIFE systems for iPhone 6. It’s not overly sick-bag friendly.
To break up the flight, the cabin crew came out with the onboard food. As you might had guessed – this being Lufthansa Short Haul – it was a choice of a sandwich or a sandwich. In this case, a cheese sandwich or a chicken sandwich.
NonStop Chicken Sandwich!
Drinks were offered – and yes, you should all know what I had…
Nonstop Diet Coke in a can!
The journey continued without any bumps and cleanup was done at a reasonable speed. With that done, there was nothing else to do, other than sit back and watch the miles count as we crossed by the English Channel and over London as we begun tracking back toward Birmingham.
London underneath. It’s a bit too bright thanks to the lights on inside the plane.
With London passing and Birmingham less than 100 miles away, the cabin was buttoned down for landing as the plane begun its decent.
Crossing Warwickshire on final decent.
With our plane lined up, the plane made a gentle landing at Birmingham Airport, ending the flying part of the trip
With a medium length taxi back to the terminal, there nothing to do but wait, and check train times – because the last thing I wanted was to hang around a cold train station for a long time.
Eventually, the plane taxied past the hard stands – an indication it was closing in
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 parked at the hard stands.
Another turn right, and our plane lined up for the jetbridge. A bong from the flight deck and the lights came on – with the mad scramble to get off the plane.
Scramble!
I thanked the crew – and headed home.
Overall: The choice of snack probably was the highlight on this trip. The crew tried to warm themselves to the passengers, rather there for your safety. Which for a last flight of the day is not a bad thing to see.
Exiting the plane, I checked where I was in the world (as well as being in the right airport – always helps), and headed for the UK Border.
The plane at the gate
The UK Border was dealt with quickly, with my passport cleared by the EGates machines. With that done, it was a straight walk out of the secure area and into arrivals.
A quick stop at Spar on the way through, and it was back to Birmingham International station to catch a train home.
Although Virgin Trains have introduced new rules it seems. Which is a shame because I really want to try teleporting on a station some days.
A quick 10 minute train ride home, and a 5 minute taxi cab journey – and I was at my front door, with another adventure done and dusted.
Next: Learning goes both ways.
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