LondonAkis
First-Class-Member
20 July 2004; LH3727 ZRH-FRA; A319, seat 5A
I arrived at ZRH airport at 16:00hrs, a good three and a half hours before my designated departure time (LH3729). Plane spotting was not the reason, but my meetings in Zurich had finished too early for me to stay in town, so I thought I might as well make it for the earlier flight. The lady at the LH desk was very efficient and polite; she changed my ticket on the spot and explained the directions to the Star Alliance lounge. Passport control was quick. The Star Alliance lounge is on the left hand side of the main terminal building overlooking the B gates and the apron at the very end of the longest runway. It is quite smartly designed with comfortable armchairs and couches. The gates on the B section of the terminal seem to be out of use (all of them point towards the building rather than the apron). Most of the aircraft parked in view were regional airliners. LH had 2 CRJs, VO had another CRJ and AF had an AR8. One of the LH CRJs had an interesting livery of European monuments (Tower of Pisa, Brandenburg Gate, London Eye and the Eiffel Tower) in colourful cartoon-like figures. Some blank white MD80s were parked by the end of the apron and an LX A332 was hidden in the maintenance hangar of the airline. The most remarkable take-offs I saw were a TG B743, an EK A332 and a LX A343. After a few coffees and cigarettes (thankfully there is a large part of the lounge dedicated for smokers), we were called for boarding.
The LH A319, parked on a remote stand, was configured up until row 10 in C Class and almost fully booked. The difference with the LX C-Class configuration was already obvious. In 3-3 layout, the middle seat was not squeezed half. The only difference is that they do not seat anyone in rows B and E. Leg room is more than economy but still nothing great. I was happy though to try once again my favourite short-hall airliner, the A319.
A Spaniard behind me had just dialed on the phone his wife, chatting away at the same time as the flight attendant was making the all too familiar announcement about turning off mobile phones. One of the female attendants stopped next to him and with a firm tone ordered him to switch his phone off. He ignored her with a nod and continued. Louder now, she repeated that under airline safety regulation he has to switch his phone off. The guy just flipped and shouted back “Can’t you see I am talking to my fuckin’ wife?”. I am sure the “fuckin’” wife was definitely impressed with his manners on the other end of the line. The stewardess though was not and she suggested a call to security. The Spaniard put his Mediterranean temper aside, hung up on his “fuckin’” wife and turned off the phone. The point being that people can fork out a fortune on a plane ticket, but that does not keep arseholes away.
We took off from the short cross runway after waiting for a JL MD11 to take off from the main runway. Heading south, we took a 180 degree turn on the east which allowed perfect views of Kloten and the traffic below. The weather so far was clear although everyone predicted more storms heading towards West Germany. We smoothly took the Rhein path north. A good 15’ en route you could clearly see Stuttgart and the airport. I always thought the runways were a bit awkwardly arranged! Service during the flight was quick and efficient, but not even close to the genuine dedication of the LX crew. The meal was something small and unworthy of mention. Although my seat was a window one – naturally – it was on the wrong side of the plane. I missed the great views of Mainhattan on the flight path for landing. The A319 performed the smoothest landing and the most I managed to see while taxing to concourse A, were about 20 odd USAF transporters and 2 LH 744 hidden in the Lufthansa Technik hangars. Flight rating: 7/10 for the quasi-business class seating and the passenger-stewardess interaction.
I arrived at ZRH airport at 16:00hrs, a good three and a half hours before my designated departure time (LH3729). Plane spotting was not the reason, but my meetings in Zurich had finished too early for me to stay in town, so I thought I might as well make it for the earlier flight. The lady at the LH desk was very efficient and polite; she changed my ticket on the spot and explained the directions to the Star Alliance lounge. Passport control was quick. The Star Alliance lounge is on the left hand side of the main terminal building overlooking the B gates and the apron at the very end of the longest runway. It is quite smartly designed with comfortable armchairs and couches. The gates on the B section of the terminal seem to be out of use (all of them point towards the building rather than the apron). Most of the aircraft parked in view were regional airliners. LH had 2 CRJs, VO had another CRJ and AF had an AR8. One of the LH CRJs had an interesting livery of European monuments (Tower of Pisa, Brandenburg Gate, London Eye and the Eiffel Tower) in colourful cartoon-like figures. Some blank white MD80s were parked by the end of the apron and an LX A332 was hidden in the maintenance hangar of the airline. The most remarkable take-offs I saw were a TG B743, an EK A332 and a LX A343. After a few coffees and cigarettes (thankfully there is a large part of the lounge dedicated for smokers), we were called for boarding.
The LH A319, parked on a remote stand, was configured up until row 10 in C Class and almost fully booked. The difference with the LX C-Class configuration was already obvious. In 3-3 layout, the middle seat was not squeezed half. The only difference is that they do not seat anyone in rows B and E. Leg room is more than economy but still nothing great. I was happy though to try once again my favourite short-hall airliner, the A319.
A Spaniard behind me had just dialed on the phone his wife, chatting away at the same time as the flight attendant was making the all too familiar announcement about turning off mobile phones. One of the female attendants stopped next to him and with a firm tone ordered him to switch his phone off. He ignored her with a nod and continued. Louder now, she repeated that under airline safety regulation he has to switch his phone off. The guy just flipped and shouted back “Can’t you see I am talking to my fuckin’ wife?”. I am sure the “fuckin’” wife was definitely impressed with his manners on the other end of the line. The stewardess though was not and she suggested a call to security. The Spaniard put his Mediterranean temper aside, hung up on his “fuckin’” wife and turned off the phone. The point being that people can fork out a fortune on a plane ticket, but that does not keep arseholes away.
We took off from the short cross runway after waiting for a JL MD11 to take off from the main runway. Heading south, we took a 180 degree turn on the east which allowed perfect views of Kloten and the traffic below. The weather so far was clear although everyone predicted more storms heading towards West Germany. We smoothly took the Rhein path north. A good 15’ en route you could clearly see Stuttgart and the airport. I always thought the runways were a bit awkwardly arranged! Service during the flight was quick and efficient, but not even close to the genuine dedication of the LX crew. The meal was something small and unworthy of mention. Although my seat was a window one – naturally – it was on the wrong side of the plane. I missed the great views of Mainhattan on the flight path for landing. The A319 performed the smoothest landing and the most I managed to see while taxing to concourse A, were about 20 odd USAF transporters and 2 LH 744 hidden in the Lufthansa Technik hangars. Flight rating: 7/10 for the quasi-business class seating and the passenger-stewardess interaction.
