The Details

• Flight: LH425
• Aircraft: A380-800
• Class: First
• Seat: 1A
• Route: Boston Logan (BOS)-Munich (MUC)
• Distance: 3,917 miles
• Duration: 6hrs 33min
• Departure: 8:51 PM
• Arrival: 9:23 AM (+1)

The Preflight

On the second leg of my journey to London to visit my sister for the weekend, I was flying Lufthansa in First class on their A380-800 to Munich. This would be my third opportunity to fly Lufthansa up front in First, and my first time on their A380. After arriving in Terminal B from Indy with American Airlines, I walked over to Terminal E where Lufthansa and most other international airlines depart from.

At the check-in area, there was a dedicated First Class check-in desk. There was little more to differentiate the check-in experience from the economy or business class besides a red carpet.

After breezing through TSA thanks to PreCheck I headed up to the second floor to the Lufthansa Lounge.

The main lounge serviced most Star Alliance business class passengers departing from Terminal E including a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, a Swiss Air flight to Zurich, an Austrian flight to Vienna, and my flight to Munich. It was extremely crowded with nearly every seat taken. However, there was a special dedicated First Class zone within the lounge that I was escorted to reserved for Lufthansa and Swiss First class passengers.

The First class section of the lounge was one large rectangular room with a few dining tables and a long sofa to the right of the entrance.

On the left was a small area of three sofas and three lounge chairs. There were 19 seats in this lounge but during my stay, it got crowded with every single seat being occupied.

Upon taking my seat at the dining table, I was immediately offered a drink and asked if I wanted to order anything off the menu. I was free to grab food from the business class section of the lounge as well (sorry it was too crowded for pictures).

There was a respectful wine list and a few choices for appetizers and entrees. Note the misspelling of “lam chops” and “tripple”.

To start, I ordered the cream of nettle soup but was told they were out. Instead, I had a tasty lobster bisque with creme Fraiche and croutons. For dessert, I enjoyed the chocolate brownie.

I decided to try to lamb chops for the entree. It was OK but not the best as they lacked any flavor.

From the business class section of the lounge, I was able to view our A380 pulling into the gate after its flight from Munich.

The A380-800, registration D-AIML, was named after the German city of Hamburg. It was delivered brand new to Lufthansa in May 2014, and stored during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 until being re-activated in April 2023. Lufthansa is currently operating seven A380s with plans to re-activate one more bringing to a total of eight by 2025.

One special feature of the Lufthansa Lounge was that it could board the aircraft directly from the gate. The lounge had two gates E10 and E11.

Boarding was scheduled to begin at 7:20 PM but due to inbound from Munich being delayed, we boarded twenty minutes late. The lounge staff came into the First class section and escorted us all to the gate, pushing through a line of business class passengers. All passengers on the top level boarded via the first door on the second level while a single door was used for the lower level.

The Flight

Lufthansa has a total of eight first class seats on board their A380-800s at the very front of the upper deck. The eight seats are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration across two rows. Once on board, the flight attendants greeted us at the door and escorted each passenger to their seat.

I was seated in 1A for tonights flight. There were a total of five passengers on tonights flight and seat 1D across from me remained empty.

The first class seat is incredibly comfortable with a well padded 30.5 inch wide seat.

shades.

The cabin was elegent as well as minimalist which each seat adorned with a red rose.

While the first class seat is not a new nor as private as some of the other competitors, I always find a timeless elegance to the Lufthansa seat.

Each seat had an average sized 17 inch HD touchscreen. There was a coat hook to the top left of the screen.

Directly underneath the screen was a large ottoman that offered a large amount of storage.

Along the fusalage there were two small cocktail trays. The massive tray table was stored at the front of the seat between the rose stand and the cocktail tray. Undeaneath the cocktail tray was a literature pocket.

Further along the windows were two smaller storage compartments, one for the built-in headphones, and a smaller shallow compartment.

There was also a larger storage compartment almost behind the seat which could fit a smaller laptop or tablet as well as a water bottle holder.

Within the left armrest was the IFE remote as well as controls for the seat lighting.

Each seat had two USB-A sockets and two 110V outlets.

The seat controls were located within the right armrest. There were also controls for moving the ottoman forward and backward as well as raising and lowering the privacy shield.

We were all provided a comfortable pair of Van Laack pajamas as well as Cumuli slippers which I still use at home.

The amenity kit was an nice leather clutch and was well stocked with amenities including an eye mask, socks, hair comb, ear plugs, toothbrush, and shoe horn. There was also Augustinus Bader hand cream and lotion.

Each passenger was also provided a water bottle at the seat. In the past, Lufthansa had Bose headphones at the seat but they recently changed the headphones to AKG N700s. While they were comfortable and the noise cancellation worked fine, it like a downgrade from the previous Bose ones.

First class passengers were also provided with a complimentary one-time use WiFi code.

At each seat was a small day pillow along with a larger pillow.

There was also a cozy throw blanket different than the comforter used for the bed later on.

Upon boarding, I was immediately offered a predeparture beverage. I decided with a glass of the excellent 2007 Laurent Perrier Rose Alexandra which was served with a ramekin of macadamia nuts.

The food and beverage menus were distributed upon taking our seats. Main course meal orders were taken on the ground and the flight attendants also asked if I would like to be waken up for breakfast.

We pushed back at 8:34 PM and took off at 8:50 PM from runway 15R. Lufthansa A380s have three separate cameras on board including a tail camera, forward camera, and underneath camera. It was a treat to watch the take-off from the tail camera.

Service began promptly once we reach cruising altitude with a beverage service and warm towels.

An amuse buche of tomato and mozarella was also served.

Dinner began with a warmed bread basket as well as the caviar and appetizer course. I decided to have all three appetizers along with the full cavari service.

The appetizers consisted of delicious seared peppered tuna, smoked duck breast, and a pea flan. Both the tuna and duck were phenomenal.

The caviar was served with a generous portion of chopped egg whites, egg yolk, creme fraiche, and red onions. Rather than the classic blinis, Lufthansa offers toasted white bread with the crust removed.

For my main course, I had the orange and sesame crusted Halibut with potatoe puree and cauliflower with Enoki mushrooms. This was another exceptional dish with a perfect crunchy crust on the halibut with a sweet and savory orange-sesame sauce.

By this point I was stuffed and could not handle an entire cheese plate by myself. Instead, I had a decadent opera cake with creme anglaise. This was if not the best opera cake I have ever had.

The flight attendants were efficient in the meal service and it finished within an hour and half from take-off. I headed to one of two foward lavatories for first class passengers while they prepared 1D for bed. With the cabin being half full, I was able to use two first class seats, one for sleeping, and the other for lounging and enjoying the IFE.

The privacy divider in the middle and the privacy screen on the aisle raised to create and partially enclosed suite around the seat. At 81 inches long, the bed was more than long enough for my 71 inch height. The turn down service included a mattress topper as well as thick comforter with the two pillows provided earlier at boarding. While the bedding was comfortable, it was very warm. Coupled with the lack of air vents and a warm cabin temperature, I did wake up sweating in my pajamas.

At the very front of the upper deck were two dedicated First class lavatories. Within each lavatory was a large bench across from the sink.

A unique feature of the Lufthansa A380 is that there is a urinal. To my knowledge, there are no other commerical aircraft with a urinal.

The lavatory was well stocked with amenities include mouthwash, make-up remover, hand cream, and facial spray.

Despite the overly warm cabin, I was able to get a four hour nap in and woke-up with 100 minutes until arrival. Upon noting that I was awake, the flight attendants offered me breakfast. Despite having just eaten a four course meal a few hours ago, I wanted to try the famous freshly scrambled eggs that Lufthansa offers. I had a small pretzel roll along with my scrambled eggs served with two strips of crispy bacon and chives. Delicious.

The cabin was prepped for landing 30 minutes prior to landing.

It was a clear sunny day in Munich with the temperature at a hot 95F.

We landed on runway 26R at 9:23 AM.

While most international flights arrive at gates, today we actually pulled into a remote stand. This was great news for First class passengers as we were all provided private Porsche transfers to the terminal. Normally, Lufthansa does not offer private transfer for flights arriving at the terminal, making this ride a nice treat.

While we pulled into the remote stand at 9:30 AM, there were no ground crew to operate the air stairs for until 15 minutes after our arrival.

I was not complaining however, as we had amazing views of the massive A380.

Each individual driver had a small placard of the First class passenger they were assigned. I was guided to the Porsche and whisked away.

It was a four minute ride from the remote stand to the Satellite Terminal First Class lounge entrance.

This was a phenomenal first class experience with Lufthansa onboard their A380. The entire experience from the lounge in Boston to the arrival at the First Class Lounge in Munich in a Porsche was flawless with fantastic crew, delicious food, and pure luxury. While the seats are no longer industry leading, I would love to fly Lufthansa First class again.