The Details

• Flight: LH2476
• Aircraft: A320neo
• Class: European Business
• Seat: 1F
• Route: Munich (MUC)-London Heathrow (LHR)
• Distance: 586miles
• Duration: 1hr 31min
• Departure: 3:14 PM
• Arrival: 3:45 PM

The Preflight

After arriving from Boston on board Lufthansa’s A380 I was driven from the remote stand to the entrance of the Lufthansa First Class Lounge in the Terminal 2 Satellite for gates K and L.

Since I was transiting through the Schengen Zone, I did not have to clear security or the border again. However, before entering the lounge, I had to leave my passport with a customs agent at the entrance to enter. Once inside, a lounge attendant checked me in, updated me on my connecting flight, and welcomed me into the lounge. There was a special theme of the lounge on this visit which was “Strawberry Rhubarb”.

Immediately behind the lounge check-in counters was an outdoor terrace with a view sofas and a lovely view of the apron.

There were a few drinks and wine available in this area. It was over 90F today, so I decided to spend my time inside the lounge.

Going further into the lounge was a long corridor with large floor-to-ceiling windows and sofa sections.

There was a variety of seating options including lounge chairs and sofas.

Within each section of sofas was a different selection of small snacks or drinks.

There were also a few individual workrooms with desks available.

Outside the workrooms was a tea dispenser with tea from BioTeaque.

Further into the lounge were additional sofas leading into the dining room where the bar was also located.

The dining room consisted of a dozen or so dining tables with a buffet as well as a few high-top chairs at the bar.

Next to the bar there was also a small cigar lounge for smoking.

Next to the Cigar Lounge, there was a table with a selection of Gin from across Europe to celebrate the European Championships.

Within the dining room, there was an expansive buffet with a variety of cold and hot foods. Cold options included fresh fruit, cheesecake, chocolate cake, and parfait. There was a separate olive and pickled vegetable selection with a variety of olive oils.

There was a large cold-cut selection with cured meats, seafood, and sushi.

Hot options included a veal spaetzle and a warm bread pudding.

There was also a selection of salads and pickled vegetables.

The buffet also had various breads, pretzels, and a selection of wines on display.

I decided to sit next to the window and start with an Americano. It was served with a shot of banana smoothie and a small piece of dark chocolate.

The main dining option in the lounge is a menu for a la carte food served from a proper kitchen. There was a suggested special Fusion Menu as well as European Championships bar food menu during my visit to the lounge.

Then there was a selection of the regular breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes.

The drinks menu was expansive with a wide variety of wines, liquor, soft drinks, smoothies, tea, coffee, and beer available.

As I was still stuffed from my First class meal onboard, I decided against ordering a full three-course meal. Instead, I opted to try the beef fillet with wasabi potato puree from the fusion menu. It was served with a small tray of artisanal bread.

I asked for the beef to be medium rare and it came out perfect. The beef was seasoned well and melted in my mouth.

While in the lounge, I took the opportunity to shower and change into a fresh set of clothes.

The shower suites were well stocked with individual amenities such as shampoo and conditioner.

At the end of my visit, I asked one of the lounge staff for a rubber duck and was provided this cute swim-themed one.

With a few minutes until boarding was scheduled to begin, I headed to gate L1. The A320neo for this flight, registration D-AINK, was six years old having been delivered to Lufthansa in July 2018.

Before boarding, all passengers were asked to line up for a passport check and then if clear, a sticker was placed on the boarding pass. Once this process had been completed for most passengers, boarding began a few minutes later at 2:24 PM.

The Flight

Lufthansa operates 23 A320neos in their flight which have two different types of slimline seats. All A320neos in the fleet have 180 seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration. Newer A320neos have the Geven Essenza seat with in-seat USB ports while the older A320neos have the Recaro BL3520 “NEK” seats without power. Today, we had an aircraft with the older Recaro seats.

I was seated in 1F on the righthand side of the aircraft at the bulkhead. This was a standard European business class flight with a blocked middle seat. On this particular flight, there were four rows of business class with 16 total passengers.

This was a simple seat without many bells or whistles. Within the armrest, there was a simple bi-fold tray table. A literature pocket was located in the bulkhead. As mentioned earlier, there are not power ports. In addition, these aircraft do not even offer WiFi on board or streaming.

Boarding took over 30 minutes and we finally pushed back at 3:03 PM; 45 minutes after boarding started. We took off at 3:13 PM bound for London.

One thing European carriers do better than American carriers in their premium cabins is the catering for short-haul flights. On this hour and a half-flight, Lufthansa offered business-class passengers a tasty and flavorful meal with warm bread and dessert. I found the curried chicken flavorful. Dessert was a chocolate cake covered with a white cream that was tasty as well.

The cabin crew also provided constant refills on beverages. I had a cup of coffee. Near the end of the flight, the cabin crew also passed out small chocolates.

On our approach to LHR, we passed over London City with amazing views of the River Thames, Parliament, and Buckingham Palace.

We landed at 3:44 PM on runway 27R. The taxi to gate A17 at Terminal 2 was quick at under four minutes.

We disembarked quickly and had a direct line of sight on customs after deplaning. I was able to use the E-gates with my passport and cleared customs in under a minute.

Lufthansa’s business class was exactly what I expected. It was no different from my previous flights with Lufthansa however there is a lot of room for improvement. Adding inflight entertainment, in-seat power, and more seat padding could how to improve their short-haul product.