Lufthansa

Airline liveries come and go

liveries, ,

Icelandair is retiring two lovely liveries

Icelandair is retiring its Boeing 757 aircraft and refreshing and expanding its fleet with Airbus A321LRs.

That means two aircraft with much-loved liveries will no longer fly.

Vatnajokull (2017), the carrier’s ode to the largest glacier in Europe, was introduced in 2018 and retired last week.

We had the good fortune of flying on the plane in May 2017, before it went into full service, on a one-hour flight between Keflavik Airport near Reykjavik and Egilsstaðir Airport, with a route that went right over the glacier the plane is named after.

Now that the plane and that livery have been retired.

Here is Icelandair’s video about the creation of the livery.

Icelandair’s aurora borealis livery is going bye-bye too

Hekla Aurora, Icelandair’s northern lights plane, debuted in 2015, with interior aurora borealis mood lighting and an aurora borealis livery.

The plane’s last flight is scheduled for Sunday, October 12, and the airline has scheduled a special 1 and a half hour farewell flight from Keflavík Airport. Details here.

Looking forward to Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary livery

While Icelandair is retiring two cool liveries, Lufthansa is getting ready to unveil a new livery in honor of its 100th anniversary in 2026.

Starting in December, a new Boeing 787-9 will go into service with a special livery featuring a blue fuselage, the carrier’s trademark white crane hovering above it, and the bird’s wings merging into the wings of the aircraft.

In addition to the crane, the numerals “100” will be visible on the left side of the fuselage and the lettering “1926 / 2026” on the right side.

There will also be a 100” logo painted on the underside of the aircraft.

Light reading on Lufthansa flights

Books, ,

Need something to read on your next Lufthansa flight?

Lufthansa will be providing a selection of e-journals for passengers from a library that currently has more than 250 digital titles available in a choice of 18 different languages that can be accessed by passengers up to three days before their date of travel.

Download  is via the Lufthansa app, where  you enter your name and either your booking code or ticket number, then download a title to your own electronic device, where you can read it as a PDF on the flight or on the ground for an unlimited time.

The number of titles available depends on your booking class – from one (economy class) to twenty (HON Circle Member) – digital magazines/newspapers per flight. Additional titles are available for a fee.

Why is Lufthansa offering this?

“By switching over to digital reading material, Lufthansa is able to provide a better service to its passengers through the considerably wider spectrum of magazines and newspapers, offering many more genres and language options. A contribution is also made towards protecting the environment; the e-journals are more sustainable, as no paper or printing ink needs to be used and logistics services are not required for their distribution. The reduction in printed reading ¬materials also means less weight on board and thus also helps to reduce kerosene consumption. ”

Printed material won’t disappear entirely. In Lufthansa lounges and in the First Class sections on long haul flights, the usual printed reading material will still be provided. Printed versions of the magazines in the Business Class section on intercontinental flights will also still be available. And at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs – and in Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Düsseldorf airports – newspapers will be offered to all Lufthansa passengers from several central distribution points.

Holiday treats for Lufthansa passengers

Holidays, ,

Airports and airlines are getting in the holiday spirit and Lufthansa is no exception.

All this month, the carrier is offering treats and surprises for passengers.

In Frankfurt,visitors to the Lufthansa First Class Lounge and First Class Terminal are being served a holiday meal of roasted duck with caramelized red cabbage, potato cranberry-dumplings and goose liver Figaro.

And all Lufthansa lounges are serving sweet pastries such as Stollen cake, roasted almonds and fresh-baked cookies.

On flights, there are decorated advent wreaths and small chocolate gifts for all passengers. And, beginning on December 12, children flying on Lufthansa will be presented with little teddy bears named Paul and Sam.

Travel Tidbits: mariachi, dirndls & free cheeseburgers

Events, Food, Free Stuff, , , , ,

Some fun Friday travel tidbits for you today…

delta-shake-shack

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First – Sunday, September 18 is National Cheeseburger Day and Delta Air Lines will be celebrating with Shake Shack and giving customers flying Delta One on select flights from JFK to LAX a complimentary ShackBurger.

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But wait, there are more cheeseburgers: all customers flying from JFK to LAX on Sept. 18 will receive a voucher for a complimentary ShackBurger at the LA West Hollywood Shake Shack.

Not up for cheeseburgers? How about some mariachi music at the airport?

las-mariachi

Mariachi music welcomed travelers to McCarran International Airport last year at this time as well. Photo: Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau.

McCarran International Airport is kicking off the busy Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend by welcoming passengers to Las Vegas with a special performance in the Terminal 3 international arrivals lobby on Friday morning by Mariachi Oro Del Rancho – a 19-member student band from Rancho High School.

Mexico is an important market for McCarran: from Thursday through Sunday, 41 commercial flights fly directly from Mexico to McCarran International Airport, including ten charter flights added specifically for this holiday weekend.

 

And Lufthansa is celebrating Oktoberfest season..

Trachten 2016, Trachtencrew

Keep an eye out for Lufthansa crew members dressed in special anniversary in traditional attire at many  passenger service stations in Munich and on some flights, including Munich to Shanghai September 20, Munich to Denver October 2 and Munich to Boston October 3 and, at the end of the Munich Oktoberfest, to European destinations  Belgrade, Birmingham, Cluj, Nice, Olbia and Sylt.

This is a Lufthansa tradition and over the past ten years the carrier has had different fashion houses design the yellow, blue and white dirndls.

This year’s costume is once again designed and tailored by the Angermaier fashion house, based in Munich.

 

(Dirndl descriptions: Outside and in the center: current anniversary costume. Other costumes from left: Traditional blue print dirndl from 2006, costume from 2009, dirndl from 2012 and the traditional dirndl from the 50s (2015 costume). Courtesy: Lufthansa/Stefan König)

Lufthansa’s dirndl crews are back

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Lufthansa Drindl

Lufthansa’s “Dirndl crews” are back and this year they’re celebrating their 10th anniversary.

The Oktoberfest season is kicking off in Munich and that means some Lufthansa cabin crew members will be swapping their regular uniforms for the traditional Bavarian Dirndl dress on flights to selected destinations, including four North American cities.

Look for the special outfits if you’re flying to Munich from Toronto and Washington, D.C. on September 16, and from Denver and Boston on October 4.

Lufthansa food truck on the road in the US

Food, Free Stuff, ,

food truck

Lucky passersby in several cities don’t have to buy a ticket on Lufthansa to get a taste of the airline’s new menu featuring regional dishes from around the U.S. such as Coffee and Ancho Chili Dusted Beef Filet, Soda Pop Braised Short Ribs and Pumpkin Ravioli.

The airline is sending its ‘Taste of America’ food truck – designed to look the exterior of an airplane – on a two-week road trip, with stops a six Lufthansa gateways to offer free meals to 200 people at each stop.

The truck started off in New York and will stop next in Charlotte, NC (October 9); Miami, FL (October 12); Atlanta, GA (October 14); Dallas, TX (October 18); and Los Angeles (October 21). At each stop, the airline will set up tables with white tablecloths and red roses and provide music.

There’s also a contest for two round-trip tickets running with this promotion on
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. You can enter the contest here.

Fresh liveries flying to the World Cup

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Airlines are getting pretty darn excited – and creative – about the World Cup and their role in flying fans and teams to the games.

Lufthansa has a ““Fanhansa” livery on more than a half dozen short and long-haul aircraft.

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And Brussels Airlines just sent their Red Devils soccer team to Brazil on a plane that looks like this on the outside.

Brussels plane

And which had turf replacing the carpet on the inside.

BRUSSELS TURF

Back with more World Cup liveries tomorrow. If you’ve spotted one, please share your photos.

Name-a-Plane and fly to Frankfurt

Airlines, Airplanes, Contests, , , ,

Lufthsansa Name the Plane

Betty, Bob, Brutus? What name would you give to an airplane?

In preparation for delivery of its first Boeing 777F in Frankfurt this October, Lufthansa is having a contest to name an airplane. Entries will be taken until July 15, 2013 and the winner will be flown to Frankfurt so they can be on hand when the new plane lands.

Find more details about Lufthansa’s “Name the Plane” contest here.

Lufthansa brings A380 to SFO

Air Travel, Airlines, Airplanes, , ,

If you were at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, May 10th, you would have seen these signs all over the place.

The airport was in celebration mode for the arrival of Lufthansa flight 454 from Frankfurt, which represents the first, and so far the only, daily service of an Airbus A380 to SFO.

The A380 is the world’s-largest passenger plane and Lufthansa has this plane’s 526 seats configured with room for 420 coach seats on the lower level and, on the upper level, 96 business class seats and 8 first-class seats that are 6’9″ long and 2’7″ wide.

I rode along on the inaugural flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco and before the flight had a chance to roam around inside all cabins of the airplane. Up in the First Class section, the stand-out features include the absence of overhead bins (each passenger receives a locker instead) and the two large, lounge-like lavatories that include changing areas and, hidden behind roll-back walls, urinals, which will go a long way in keeping the bathroom area more welcoming during a long flight.

As you might imagine, before and during this inaugural flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco, there were speeches, a cake and a bevy of airline officials and invited guests in the first and business class section.

But not all passengers knew that this was a special flight.

For my seatmate, Oliver Friedrich, CEO of PV Contractor, a German solar and photovoltaic company with an office in San Francisco, snagging a business class seat on the new Lufthansa jet was a fluke.

He’d missed his United flight to SFO the day before and had spent a frustrating evening trying to get re-booked on another flight that might get him to San Francisco in time for an important meeting.

Ending up at the Lufthansa counter, Friedrich considered himself lucky to be able to exchange his United ticket, 100 Euros and a wad a frequent flier miles for a business class seat on Lufthansa’s flight the next morning. “The woman at the counter mentioned something about a new plane and a new service, but nothing more than that,” Friedrich told me.

So imagine the surprise when Friedrich was settling into his seat and was interrupted by Lufthansa passenger airlines CEO Carsten Spohr, who was passing through the forward business cabin introducing himself and welcoming people aboard.

“Business class is usually quiet and reserved,” Friedrich told me later, “I was wondering why everyone around me seemed to know each other and was chatting away.”

Happy Souvenir Sunday from the WorldShop & Richmond Int’l Airport

Airport shops, Airports, Bars, Fun Stuff, Layover, Museums, Observation Decks, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, , , , , , , ,

Lufthansa pilots have scheduled a four day strike beginning on Monday, February 22, 2010.  Negotiations are currently underway, but if those talks fail to avert the strike, the carrier will be forced to cancel most of its flights. And that will leave passengers stuck at the airport.

The upside? If you do end up spending more time than you planned at a German airport, you’ll be able to find plenty of things to do.

Munich Airport, for example, has an outdoor observation deck and a great indoor/outdoor beer garden with an on-site brewery.

munich airport Airbrau

The Hamburg Airport also has observation decks as well as the Airport Model Exhibition – a miniature version of the airport complete with buildings, taxiways, runways, landing strips, and 8,000 light-emitting diodes that light up the tiny airport’s night sky – all on a scale of 1:500.

Hamburg Airport model exhibition

And at the Dusseldorf, Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin airports you’ll also find Lufthansa WorldShop stores, which offer a promising spot to do some Souvenir Sunday shopping.

The airline recently opened its second WorldShop store at the Frankfurt Airport (Terminal 1, Area B) and, like the others; the store is filled with travel items, backpacks, travel accessories, electronics, model aircraft, toys, and some other fun stuff.  Shoppers can earn Miles & More award miles for items purchased here and – here’s a nice twist – also buy items using accumulated miles.

I’m especially taken with this A380 Cookie Jar

The cool container sells for about $107 – or 22,000 miles, so we can’t make it our pick for Souvenir Sunday, which usually has an upper limit of $10.  But poking around the WorldShop catalog I did find this cute guy, which sells for 9 Euros (about $12) or 7500 miles.

But since this is Souvenir Sunday and do we have that under $10 rule (which may need to be re-adjusted soon for inflation..),  we offer these items sent along by the folks at Virginia’s Richmond International Airport(RIC), where a variety of local museums are represented in the  Hudson News store in the airport’s Atrium area, next to the security screening checkpoint for Concourse B.

These items are from the Edgar Allan Poe Museum

Beer mugs - Poe Museum

(Beer mugs! )

(Poe action figure – with removable raven! )

Have you found a great souvenir while stuck at the airport? If it’s under $10, “of” the city or region and, ideally, a bit offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along. It may show up as our pick for a future Souvenir Sunday.