Lufthansa LH954 Frankfurt-am-Main – Birmingham
A Change of Scenery
In this adventure
- Well, 2020 is turning out to be a fine year for travel…
- Travel preparations
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- LH959 Birmingham to Frankfurt-am-Main International
- Entering Germany
- Frankfurt Airport XXL Tour
- Into Frankfurt
- Hotel: Mercure Hotel City Messe, Frankfurt
- Exploring Frankfurt in these odd times
- Back to FRA
- LH954 Frankfurt to Birmingham
- Welcome back to the UK
- A welcome change
I descended down the stairs and headed to the jetbridge. There was a small queue to board, but eventually, I boarded the A320neo.
This way, please.
Down the jetbridge
A small queue
Upon boarding the aircraft, I was greeted by the crew and given a sanitising wipe.
With that, I headed down the aircraft, past row 8 and onto Row 19 – chosen again as no one was sitting there 3 hours ago. (the previous seat I assigned, some kind person assigned the middle seat of the row. Kind.).
Business Class
Economy Class
19A.
With me at my seat row, I was met with some more Neu Europa Kabin (Recaro) seats. For new seats, they had been… broken in rather well, to the point I could get comfy on them very quickly.
Although there was a reasonable amount of leg space.
The aircraft itself was busier than the outbound segment from Birmingham – but there were still significant gaps in the cabin where passengers should have been – allowing me to have a half-row to myself.
Eventually, boarding was declared complete. Again, I had half a row to myself. Not that I’m arguing.
The safety demonstration carried out as the aircraft was pushed back from the gate, with the P&W1t5000 making their low rumbles as they powered up.
Safety Card.
Soon, it was our A320neo’s turn to have a trundle around Frankfurt Airport.
Lufthansa Airbus A330-300
Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i
Parked Aircraft. You can see more up close in the Frankfurt XXL Tour
Sun Express Boeing 737-800
The aircraft took its time heading to the runway, with traffic taking off at some frequency.
Eventually, it was our A320neo’s turn to power down the runway and into the sky.
With the A320neo safely airborne and clearing Frankfurt, it set about flying to the UK. The route would take us over Germany, Netherlands, down the Thames and Right towards Birmingham.
Up we go
Tschüss Frankfurt
Vectoring away
Cabin during climb
Hopefully, I’ll see you sooner rather than later Frankfurt.
Cruise
The first check was if there was Wi-Fi on this aircraft… and in a surprise to no-one, another A320neo with no Wi-Fi connectivity installed.
I’m three for three so far in terms of Lufthansa A320neos and no Wi-Fi (interestingly, I’ve only flown aboard an A319, A350 and B747-8i with Wi-Fi with Lufthansa).
Onboard service kicked off, with a repeat of the inbound service – a full bottle of water, followed by a choice of tea or coffee.
Service in progress
Even though airline coffee is… at the best – warm brown liquid, and a worst undrinkable mess, I went for the coffee, in a vain attempt to keep me awake.
Cloud cover was much lower than the day before, allowing me to watch the world move below us, allowing me to watch the transitions between counties.
There was a little chop as we crossed over the Netherlands and Channel – but nothing worth turning the seatbelt sign on for.
As the aircraft completed its channel crossing, it took a northerly route over Essex and London, with the city on display
City Airport is down there.
London. Seen from a distance
With the aircraft 20 minutes away from Birmingham, the seatbelt signs were illuminated. Again, disembarkation instructions were issued at this point – that we would be leaving the aircraft in groups, one row at a time.
Cabin during decent.
The A320neo vectored in as it approached its destination of Birmingham.
With ease, the aircraft touched down at Birmingham Airport
With the aircraft on the ground, it taxied off the runway and made its way back to the terminal area. We passed some waiting Jet2 Boeing 737s, and even an Emirates Boeing 777 – signs that normality, whist a long way away, is possible.
TUI Boeing 787 Dreamliner
TUI and Jet2
Jert2
With ease, the aircraft turned for the gate.
After pulling up at the gates, the engines shut down. From there, we had to wait whilst the crew awaited the jetbridge to dock and authorisation to let people off the aircraft
Meanwhile, a KLM CityHopper Embraer E-175 slipped into the next gate.
Again, no passengers got up to get off the aircraft – rather everyone waited until told. Disembarkation was in three groups – Rows 1-8,9-18 and 19- onwards.
Guess who was in the last group?
None the less when the time came, I picked up my little day bag, thanked the crew and headed back into the United Kingdom
Off we go
Overall: Considering the times we are in, the crew offered a more than adequate and friendly service, with enough distancing on the plane to feel safe. Again, the lack of wi-fi is more of a disappointment than anything – but not essential to have.
Although with the way the world is going, having always-on connectivity is becoming a requirement it seems
Next: Welcome back to the United Kingdom. What’s a face covering?
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