TRIP REPORT: Back to Innovation, Back to Hamburg – Hamburg Airport Lounge

Hamburg Airport Common Lounge
Back to Innovation, Back to Hamburg 

It’s time to relax before a flight, get more than a little comfortable and see what the boarding zoo is like…

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

I headed up to the shared lounge facility. With a beep of my boarding pass, I was allowed to enter.

The lounge hasn’t changed too much in all the years I’ve been here – and that’s no bad thing. The only thing was that the windows had their blinds deployed due to the sun, so no plane watching.

Good news: Slightly cooler. Bad news: no airplanes to watch. 

On the plus side, it would force me to just relax for a while. Sometimes, you have to.

I also chose this opportunity to head to the small room. Because there was no way I was spending any more time in shirts and trousers – it was back to a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, as I wanted to be comfortable for the ride home.

You can moan about being dressed “properly” to travel, but conventions be dammed. Dressing up for travel (especially in short-haul European business class) is highly overrated, rather focus on a little passenger comfort – it makes a world of difference.

In terms of catering, it’s been the same as it’s ever been at this lounge – chickenwurst, German salad potatoes, salad items, bread and so on.

Fruit and nibbles

Slad Items 

And don’t forget the bread

Chickenwurat. 

Cake

Fancy biscuits 

Coffee and tea

Spirits, juices and maybe my food plate. 

However, there was one thing that wasn’t working: the magical soup machine.

NEIN!

If you’ve never been through the lounge before, there is a magic that dispenses… wait for it… soup. It’s comforting to have something like that at the end of a trip.

Sadly, it was not meant to be,

I made do with chicken wurst, potato salad, and cola. With more than a little vodka in it.

I’ll wait for you to judge me. And I’ll happily ignore you if you do.

I also spent some time tracking the A320 that would be taking me back to London – as it was running late.

Such on-time performance. Wow. 

A late-running British Airways European service. Colour me surprised.

I was in no shock that it was well past departure time by the time it landed. I took the opportunity to head to the gate when it landed – there was honestly no point heading to the gate before the aircraft touched down.

It might take this long. It might not. 

To the C Gates

This time, we would be departing from the C Gates, as opposed to the A/B gates. This is only a slight change from normal, with me turning right instead of left.

From there it was a short walk to the Schengen Border, where I was stamped out of Europe.

Border Controls

I arrived at the hot mess that was the boarding gate – and people already lining up to board, whilst the arriving passengers were getting off the plane.

I could have engaged in this madness, but I chose to sit down. Whilst luggage space would be a premium, I had options. Because of the state of this flight, a lot of people would be gate-checking their bags.

Eventually, the plane emptied, and we were allowed to begin boarding.

Boarding groups were maintained – much to the annoyance of those who had queued up. I snuck through the queues (as I was in Group 1) and beeped myself through the boarding gate.

As usual for Hamburg airport, we were made to line up outside in the zone between the jetbridge and passenger check area – as the aircraft was nowhere near ready.

Thankfully there was only a five-minute wait – and I was off again, ready to head home.

Next: BA967 Hamburg Airport to London Heathrow (Club Europe).