The Details

• Flight: LH1249
• Aircraft: A320
• Class: Business
• Seat: 3A and 3C
• Route: Athens (ATH)-Frankfurt (FRA)
• Distance: 1,212miles
• Duration: 2hrs 31min
• Departure: 2:52PM
• Arrival: 4:23PM

The Preflight

After arriving in Athens onboard our Gulf Air flight from Larnaca, we had a four-and-a-half-hour layover. We had to leave the airside terminal, enter the Schengen zone, and then check back in and re-clear security as Gulf Air was unable to print our Lufthansa boarding passes.

Security was quick thanks to a Fast Track lane and soon we were in the Lufthansa Business Lounge.

The lounge was fairly small with two separate rooms separated by a wall that doubled as the food station. One room had a few sofas with a limited drink selection of coffee and alcoholic beverages.

The room on the otherwise of the wall was larger with a buffet, dining area, as well as dining tables along the sides.

The buffet selection was really tasty with a variety of cold Greek foods including various dips, wraps, sandwiches, and desserts.

Hot food options featured mashed potatoes, meatballs, lentil salad, and orzo salad.

Along the window was another large snack table with various olives, crackers, and fresh vegetables for dipping.

The drink selection included two beers on tap, Coke products, orange juice, as well as a few bottles of wine.

Boarding was delayed by 25 minutes due to a late arriving aircraft. As soon as the last remaining passengers deplaned, the cleaning crews rushed on board, and within five minutes, boarding commenced at 2:23PM.

Our A320 today, registration D-AIUP, was a seven-year-old aircraft delivered to Eurowings initially in October 2015 (previous registration D-AEWX). In March 2016, she was transferred to Lufthansa and had flown with them since.

The Flight

Lufthansa has a total of 53 A320s in its fleet. Each aircraft has a total of 168 Recaro BL3520 NEK slimline seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration.

My fiance and I were seated in 3A and 3C which was the second to last row of business class on the flight. As standard for European business class, the only seat differentiator from the economy seat was a blocked middle seat. Each seat was 17.7″ wide and had 30″ of pitch. The padding was paper thin and not very comfortable.

The only seat amenities were a simple tray table as well as a literature pocket. There were no USB ports or power outlets onboard.

Boarding was complete at 2:38PM with pushback five minutes later. The taxi was quick and at 2:51PM we were off towards Frankfurt.

Once in the air, service was slow with a beverage service offered 30 minutes after takeoff.

Lunch was served twenty minutes after the drink service. There was a tasty cold ham platter with pickled vegetables and slaw along with a roast beef and sliced potatoes. I found both of these dishes very tasty. The dessert was some type of fruit jello with cream.

At the conclusion of the meal service, flight attendants came through the cabin with the signature Lufthansa chocolate.

There was one lavatory at the front of the cabin for business class passengers which was indistinguishable from a generic economy class lavatory.

The rest of the flight was uneventful but boring. Lufthansa lacks inflight WiFi or any streaming entertainment which left us to our own devices (with no power for charging).

We landed on time at 5:22PM and had a short seven-minute taxi to the gate. Thanks for the ride!

Again, Lufthansa offered an average intra-european flight which was indistinguishable from low-cost carriers besides the blocked middle seat and meal service. I do not think that business class is worth the price in its current state with Lufthansa.