Review: A380 Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt – Shanghai
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After my flight from Boston to Frankfurt - I made the First Class Terminal my home for the next 12 hours. In my opinion the best part of the FCT is the fantastic Mediterranean style food offerings. Things haven't changed much since my last visit in May but there were some subtle changes.
DoCo the catering company the powers Turkish Airlines excellent food now has it's labels all over the FCT food buffet. Did they start running it?
Also there used to be a very attentive (sometimes too much) drinks service in the lounge chairs looking toward the new Z gates. This has ceased when I was there - you need to go to the bar and order. Oh my...
5 PM departures are really busy and there was a line at passport check and the car service drove people in Mercedes Minivans. Not what everyone was hoping for with some German executives looking types giving death stares to the staff.
The huge First Class Cabin in the A380 to Shanghai was just filled with myself and one other passenger. Since nobody is allowed to cross through the First Class Cabin (even pilots and other senior staff avoid it) it's really a private plane ride with tons of space.
The Flight attendants served champagne prior to take off. The wine menu was exactly the same as it was on my prior flight from Boston. I was hoping for a bit more diversity. None of the premium champagne brands are available in Lufthansa First Class - always wonder why?
I wasn't that hungry but curious about the kind of food that was catered. Now in my prior flights with Lufthansa to Asia to First Class food was not stellar so I ate before the flight. Good thing I did! The food was outright horrible! I felt really bad for the excellent flight attendant who proudly presented the food. The caviar was fantastic though and I received my 6 persons share :)
I even want to say the dessert cheese had no flavor. The whole meal was more artful but it was a bad in taste as any United First Class flights.
After dinner the bed was made on the other chair.
Now that I have the comparison to the 747-400 I certainly prefer the the separate bed setup. Since I'm 6'3 I use the whole length and sleep on my stomach so the the head rest is always annoying. It's still a great flat seat but it's a seat - not a bed.
Maybe Singapore Airlines was right after all - with their sleeping mattress doubling as a (rather simple ) lounge chair?
After leaving the aircraft I was most surprised to see my name on the sign board at the arrival gate. Indeed Lufthansa has an arrival escort service at Shanghai! I was escorted all the way through immigration and security to the Maglev train station. That was a nice touch!
Lufthansa needs to work on their catering from Frankfurt - it has reached a ridiculous level. Make it simple, make it tasty and deliver a consistent product. To see how it's done just fly over to LSG in the US. I might also be time to think about premium champagne and wine brands. The wine selection isn't bad - just does not contain any brand names but rather random wines.
I love the arrival escort service and it would be great to see that in more airports - ideally also a Fastrack in Frankfurt.
The Lufthansa A380 product is a good product but Lufthansa needs to make sure they don't let it slip as the competition is harder with many Asian airlines spinning out a consistent and flawless First Class product.
See all 14 pictures on our Facebook page.
Book your flight with Lufthansa here.