A turbulent start at Istanbul airport followed by a great experience on board: great service, delicious food, a great crew and a relaxed flight. Despite the delay, Lufthansa got us to our destination in business class.
Review #36
| Departure (planned) actual | 01.06.2024 – (17:55) 18:27 |
| Arrrival (planned) actual | 01.06.2024 – (20:05) 20:21 |
| Flighttime | 2:54 h |
| Aircraft type | A320 – D-AIZE |
| Delay | 32 minutes at departure 16 minutes at arrival |
| Class | Business |
| Seats | 5A & 5C |
Table of contents
Getting there
Most passengers will arrive at the airport by car. However, it is also possible to travel to Istanbul IST Airport by metro or Havaist buses.
We arrived at Istanbul International Airport by taxi from Adahan DeCamondo Pera Hotel in the heart of Turkey’s mega-metropolis, Istanbul. After a few days in the city – including a stay at the Grand Hyatt Istanbul – we are heading home today.
Departure airport
The new and huge Istanbul International Airport IST is the largest airport in Turkey. The whole building is very clear, clean and architecturally well designed.
At the central area you will find the check-in counters, followed by the central passport control and security check. For premium passengers, there is a separate checkpoint at the R & S counters where you don’t have to queue as long.
Check-in
We checked in easily and without any problems using the app. The best way to do this is to download your boarding pass directly to your smartphone wallet, so you can access it without internet.
We were travelling with hand luggage only, so we didn’t check in any suitcases – so we didn’t even go to the check-in counter and went straight to passport and security control. Everything went very quickly and smoothly. Interestingly, the scanners are not the latest, so we still had to remove all electronics and liquids from our bags, but we were through both checks within 10 minutes.
Lounge
As a Business Class passenger, you can visit the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge at Istanbul International Airport. Located on the floor above the duty free area, the lounge is truly impressive! In addition to several live cooking stations with typical Turkish specialities, there is a huge selection of salads, desserts and drinks. Tea and coffee are also available in self-service areas.
In addition to this truly impressive culinary offering, there are several ways to pass the time. You can see Turkey from above in a flight simulator, practice your swing on a golf simulator or try out the latest long-haul business class seats.
There are also shower facilities and dormitories. Unfortunately, we were not able to test these for you during our stay.
However, there will be another opportunity to visit the lounge in the near future. We will make it up to you. We promise!
Boarding
Our B01A boarding gate was the first on the left in the B section. The gate was separated by glass panels and consisted of an A and B area. The boarding pass is checked directly at the gate entrance and compared with the passport, only for the boarding pass to be checked again 5 metres further on. I really can’t say why both checks are necessary.
There was a separate queue at the counter for groups 1 & 2 and 3 to 5. Unfortunately, the whole gate area is quite small and cramped, so there’s not really any room to queue. Just before boarding began, there was a lot of pushing and shoving, so everything in front of the counter was full and the two queues disappeared.
The gate staff were non-Lufthansa and did their best to make the whole boarding process friendly, but didn’t really manage it in a structured way. At the start of the boarding process, the groups were simply called out in a loud voice without a microphone. There was no pre-boarding for families with children, no pre-boarding for Group 1 or PRE – everyone from Groups 1 & 2 were simply boarded at the same time. Families with small children or passengers who needed help boarding were out of luck and just had to see where they were. There was no check to see if you were in the right group. The motto was: whoever has the bigger elbow gets on the plane first!
Unfortunately, both gates were boarded at the same time, but the announcements for both flights were only made for B1. So most of the time we didn’t know which flight the announcement was for.
All in all, a really difficult boarding procedure. It’s not Lufthansa’s fault, but a large modern airport like the new Istanbul airport really needs to do better!
Welcome
After using the passenger bridge to get on the plane, we were greeted with a very warm welcome. The flight was fully booked so there was a bit of chaos in the cabin. Stowing our hand luggage took some time.
All passengers on this flight were asked to stow their rucksacks and bags under the seat in front of them and only put their suitcases in the overhead compartments. They were also instructed to make sure that the wheels were facing the wall and the handles forward to make them easier to remove.
Departure was delayed by a good half hour and we were kindly given water and pillows in business class before take-off and after the doors were closed. We were also given hot towels immediately after take-off.
Start & Routing
Boarding was completed at 18:05 and all doors were in flight by 18:12. Due to weather restrictions over the Balkans, departure was delayed to 18:27. The total travel time was calculated at 2:35 hours. Arrival was scheduled for 25 to 30 minutes later than the estimated time of arrival.
As on the outbound flight, we flew an almost dead-straight route from Istanbul via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Austria to Frankfurt.
Cabin & seat
There’s no need to go into a lot of detail about the cabin and seat here – you can read about it in our other reviews. For example, here on our outbound flight.
The seats are the same throughout the aircraft and are arranged in a 3-3 configuration. In Business Class, only the window and aisle seats are occupied – the middle seat always stays empty. On our flight, the Business Class cabin was configured up to and including row 5, so our seats 5A & 5C were located in the last row of the Premium cabin. Business Class is separated from Economy by a curtain.
The upper part of the front seat backrest has a stowage compartment for magazines and similar items. At knee level, there is a net for bottles or larger items. The folding table is also located here. There are USB-A and -C charging points between the seats.
The distance between the seat rows is fine, but the real comfort comes from the free middle seat.
Entertainment
As you probably already know, there are no screens in the seats of Lufthansa’s short- and medium-haul aircraft. Consequently, in-flight entertainment consists of an in-flight magazine and the in-flight shop catalogue. Any other distractions are up to you. So either pick up a newspaper, download a podcast or just have a chat. Or you just look out the window – when else do you get to see the clouds from above?
Unfortunately, the Lufthansa FlyNet in-flight WIFI did not work on this flight, despite an announcement that it would.
Amenities
There are no Amity Kits or special amenities provided for Business Class passengers travelling on Lufthansa short- and medium-haul flights.
Food, Drinks & Snacks
On our flight, the Business Class guests were served food from the Baden–WĂĽrttemberg region – a home game for us. There were two main courses to choose from. The starter and dessert were the same for everyone. The meal was served on one tray comprising all courses at the same time.
The starter wasn’t great for either of us, but I guess that was just our tastes. Cold prawns are just not really our thing. And to be honest, my vegetarian maultasche was so-so, but Fabi’s roast beef was great. Nevertheless dessert was amazing. So delicious. Amazing. A bit Christmassy in flavour, but really, really delicious!
Snacks
Unfortunately, snacks are not available on this medium-haul flight, as it is on all Lufthansa short- and medium-haul flights. However, I think the airline could definitely change that. OK – if there’s a full 3-course meal on such a short flight, you don’t really need anything else. But it would be a great alternative to the ‘big cutlery’, wouldn’t it? What do you think? Why don’t you tell us about your opinion in the comments? We´d love to know!
Washroom
What can I say? As usual with Lufthansa, the Business Class lavatory is located at the front of the cabin like on all short- and medium-haul flights and is no different from any other lavatory. Functional and clean, but without any other amenities such as hand lotion or the like.
Service
As is usually the case with Lufthansa, we had another really great flight! The two flight attendants working the Business cabin were really great and did a fantastic job. Friendly, proactive, competent, funny and easy going. Always up for a chat – that’s how it should be! Really great!
They also provided the fastest service ever. An hour and 20 minutes after takeoff, our food had been already been cleared away and we’d had three rounds of drinks! We’ve never experienced a full food service that fast before. Despite that they were neither hectic nor stressed. Just fantastic!
By the way, all 4 colleagues on board got on really well together. They had loads of fun together and were relaxed without losing their professionalism. That’s how it should be. I think it’s really important to have as much fun as possible at work – despite the responsibilities of being a Flight Attendant.
Arrival
20 minutes before arrival, the captain made a very detailed announcement about connections, the weather and the temperature at the arrival airport of Frankfurt. Once we arrived at Gate B27A, the passenger bridge was docked to the aircraft surprisingly fast and we were able to disembark very quickly.
We got through passport control super fast and as we didn’t have to collect any bags from the carousel we were out of the terminal within 20 minutes after arriving at the gate. That set our own personal record!
Arrival airport
Frankfurt International Airport is the largest airport in Germany and one of the largest in Europe. The airport can be reached by car and bus, but it is also very well connected by train, with a long-distance train station right next to the terminal.
Everything is well signposted and easy to find. However, the distances are often quite far and you should take this into account when planning your trip.
Conclusion
As always, I can only come to a positive conclusion. Sure, the seats are subpar for a Business Class experience – especially on medium-haul routes – but Lufthansa is in good company in Europe as all airlines that offer a real Business Class seats on short-haul flights are based outside Europe.
And yes, the boarding situation in Istanbul was not great either, Lufthansa clearly needs to work together with the airport on optimizing the process. Unfortunately, I guess there’s not much the airline can do about that, though.
Otherwise, everything was great. Check-in via the app went smoothly, the service was great and the food was mostly yummy – unfortunately not to our taste, but generally good. Despite a late take-off due to weather restrictions, we only landed a quarter of an hour late – the pilot must have really stepped on the gas. And then we got from the plane to the car in record time. Great, right?
Points
This flight on Lufthansa in A320 Business Class from Istanbul to Frankfurt scores 10 out of a possible 10 points.
Recommendation
We can recommend flying with Lufthansa to all travellers. The route network is really extensive and has been expanded within the Lufthansa group. Couples, singles, business travellers and families are all well catered for.
Airline Homepage
Discover more from Get Me EVRYWHRE
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Very good report!
Did you get the cashew nuts on the flight or did you bring it your own? If you got on the flight, did you have to ask about it or did everyone get it as a apéritif?
Dear Karl W,
thank you so much for the praise. We very much appreciate that!
The cashew nuts were given out to all Business Class passengers accompanying the first drinks service right after reaching cruising altitude.
Hope you linke our other reviews as well.
All the best from Fabi & Michael