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You are here: Home / Trips / AIX Trip 2023 / TRIP REPORT: Back to Innovation, Back to Hamburg  – Heading off to Hamburg Airport

TRIP REPORT: Back to Innovation, Back to Hamburg  – Heading off to Hamburg Airport

02/08/2023 by Kevincm

Heading off to Hamburg Airport
Back to Innovation, Back to Hamburg 

a collage of food and a bed

Let us head to the airport. And yes, I’m going to cheat. I’m allowed. It was a long week.

A note from the editor – yes, we’re running late on this… it’s been busy in the real world… 

In this trip report:

  • Back to the industry
  • Sunday adventures to Heathrow featuring FlixBus
  • British Airways Galleries – Club South Lounge
  • BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg Airport
  • Into Germany, IBIS Budget, Saint Pauli
  • When cables go walkies (A trip to Saturn)
  • Sights of Aircraft Interiors Expo 2023 (What you might have missed)
  • Back to Hamburg Airport
  • Hamburg Airport Lounge
  • BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow
  • The joke of Heathrow Luggage delivery and the ride home
  • Innovation continues

Time to Head back to Hamburg Airport

With Aircraft Interiors Expo at an end, there becomes a choice – do I head to train, or do I head for a cab and let someone else do the dirty work?

a large white building with a black and yellow stripe on the wall
Firstly I need to get out of the Messe, then my bag…

a sign on a pillar
Bookmarked. I should get the hotel sorted this year for a change… although that involves budget planning.

At the beginning of the trip, I was planning to take the train… but my energy levels were sapped at the end of this. Call it doing a lot of steps around the Messe, along with a stick to bully my way through, it was… tough to put it mildly.

I gave in and hailed a Freenow to get me to the airport. Trust me, given the choice of standing on the S-Bahn to the airport, or sitting back and being in my own world… I would take the taxi and suck up the cost.

And at €33, it was a luxury I was happy to spend at this point. Even if the S-Bhan ticket was only €3.40.

Exhaustion makes decisions a lot easier sometimes.

The driver made good time from the Messenhallen to the Airport… to be honest, my mind was elsewhere as I wasn’t paying attention to the map… or much else.

a bicycle parked on the side of a building
That’s all I remember of the journey. Apart from going around in circles around the Messe. 

I guess that a lot of other things were working through my mind at that point, rather than aviation, writing or anything.

cars parked on a street
Danke FreeNow. It’s just about as easy to use as Uber. Well, almost. It means I don’t have to reach for cash or a credit card. 

I was dropped off outside the terminal building and made my way in.

a glass doors of a building
Notthis entrance

a sign on a glass door
Get ready for security…

There was the traditional re-packing of my luggage at this point – as I didn’t want to play “stand at the security queue whilst armed police look on interest” later on.

And I wanted to make sure my keys were in the right bag this time. Especially after last year’s self-induced panic, which has led to enough AirTags to sink a ship.

It’s a chance to consolidate anything I collected (be it paperwork, water bottles, gifts and such), then zip up the bags so they’re ready for check-in.

I also took the chance to visit Edeka on the ground floor of Hamburg Airport before departing. Two things caught my eye…

a pink display with candy in it
Hmm. Gummi sweet bouquets. I can get behind this.

a shelf with many containers on it
I thought German spices were only Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Maggi on a good day. This is beyond my wildest dreams… 

With that done, I headed back upstairs to departures and queued up for check-in. Three people were heading the process, with two for Eurotraveller, and one for Club Europe.

a group of people in a terminal
Must be the end of a trade show. 

There was some delay checking in, as some standby passengers were trying to get seats for the flight back – I think they made it – but they’re taking a chance on the last flight home on a trade show shuttle…

With the bag checked in, I headed to Fast-Track Security. Thankfully, the boarding pass scanners were working quickly, with only a short queue to be seen.

a man walking in an airport
Fast Lane – And Biometric Lane too. 

From what I eyeballed, normal security was behaving well, with people moving at a reasonable pace. The fast track was lovely and quick, thankfully.

One of my bags was unsurprisingly pulled over when scanned, with a visual inspection of it conducted. With the agents happy I wasn’t going to end the world, I was let on my way.

a check in counter in a building
Quiet Security lanes 

people walking in a hallway
To the gates!

With that, I headed through to the public area and got ripped off at Duty-Free on getting a snow globe. I see that had been costed down with the little amount of snow in it.

Sigh.

I headed to the lounge – because at this point, putting my feet up was a key consideration – as well as getting out of work clothes. There are three main lounges at Hamburg Airport – A Lufthansa Lounge, an Emirates Lounge and a shared-use lounge. I would be using the Shared Use Lounge.

a sign in a building

a close up of a metal elevator

Let’s head upstairs

Next: The Hamburg Airport lounge and a broken soup machine.


Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond. Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.

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Filed Under: AIX Trip 2023, Trip, Trip Reports, Trips

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