Lufthansa LH1304 Business Class from Frankfurt to Istanbul, Turkey 🇹🇷 – efficient und premium in Lufthansas A321

Easy and relaxed: Lufthansa Business Class from Frankfurt to Istanbul – good service, solid food and a punctual arrival make this flight an all-round successful journey.

Review #33

Departure (planned) actual	29.05.2024 (17:20) 17:51
Arrival (planned) actual	29.05.2024 (21:20) 21:17
Flighttime	2:26 h
Aircraft (ID)	Airbus A321 (D – AIDE)
Delay	31 minuten at departure
Class	Business (European)
Seats	5A & 5C

Arrival

This time we drove to Frankfurt Airport by car. All directions are well signposted. However, it´s always a good idea to think about where you want to go beforehand – whether it is to a specific car park or just to drop someone off for a flight. There is a specific Kiss & Fly zone where you can park, unload your bags and say farewell to your loved ones. Otherwise, parking is almost exclusively possible in the car park. There are good deals for long-term parkers, which can be booked in advance. The best way to find out is online.

Of course, you can also arrive by train or bus. The airport is perfectly connected to the ICE network with its own long-distance railway station, and also offers the possibility of getting there in just 12 minutes from Frankfurt’s main railway station with its own suburban railway station.

The long-distance bus network also offers the option of boarding or disembarking directly at Frankfurt Airport.

Departure Airport

Frankfurt Airport is the largest airport in Germany and ranks 16th on the list of the world’s busiest airports in terms of passenger traffic.

Here you can travel all over the world with countless airlines reaching 175 destinations! The main airline at the airport is, of course, Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa.

There are two terminals, T1 and T2. Depending on the airline you are traveling with, you will find your check-in counters in one of the two locations. An additional terminal, T3, is expected to open in 2026.

Check-in & baggage drop off

We checked in using the app. For flights outside the Schengen area, you will be asked to enter some passport details. This time it worked fine and I was checked in in no time at all – not like on my Lufthansa flight to Singapore! We always keep our boarding passes in our wallet so that we can use them offline or in case of connection problems.

Of course, you can also check in at a self-check-in terminal at the airport. For premium classes Business and First, this is also still possible at the counter.

If you want to check in your bags, you can simply drop off your baggage yourself at the designated counters. Simply go to one of the machines, scan your boarding pass and your baggage tag will be printed immediately. Just attach it to your bag and go to the baggage drop-off kiosks.

You will need to scan your boarding pass again, place your bag in the slot provided and the rest will go completely automated. Once the process is complete, you will receive a printed baggage receipt and if you have linked your email address during the booking or check-in process, you will also receive a confirmation email right away.

There is also a separate area for Premium Class passengers and a member of our staff will check if you are entitled to check in your baggage at this area and will provide you with friendly assistance. They will also hand you the orange Priority Tags which you can simply stick to your tag yourself.

I’m a big fan of this procedure. Normally there’s always a space available and you don’t have to wait at the counter as there usually is at least a small queue. So it’s mostly quicker.

We didn’t check in any suitcases on this flight, so we went straight to security with our hand luggage only.

Security check

We went to security checkpoint in Terminal 1 Area A, as we always do, to be sure that we wouldn’t have to take our electronic devices and liquids out of our bags and hand luggage. Frankfurt Airport has already installed new scanners that allow this procedure. As a result, the process is always very quick and straightforward. Even if the queue is a little longer, it rarely takes more than 5 minutes before it´s our turn. This time, too, everything went quickly and smoothly – less than 10 minutes after arriving at the security checkpoint, we were already through and on our way to Lufthansas Senator Lounge.

Lounge

As we were travelling to Turkey, we had to go through passport control and leave the Schengen area. Our flight departed from Terminal 1 B, so we chose the Lufthansa Senator Lounge there to wait for our flight.

You will find the Lounge at the very end of B gates, opposite B42. You will be checked at gate level and then you can go up the stairs to enter the lounge.

As non-Senators, we are still entitled to access the Lufthansa Senator Lounge as we have an American Express Platinum credit card, which gives us access to Lufthansa Senator Lounges in combination with a valid business class ticket.

Lufthansas quite large Senator Lounge was rather empty. Apparently we had caught a good moment. In late afternoon/early evening there is obviously not much going on. However, the space available is actually very generous.

In our opinion, the food on offer was exactly the same as in Lufthansas business lounges across Germany, apart from very minor differences. The service, however, was very fast and the staff very friendly and attentive.

In addition to the food on offer, there is also the option of showering on site and using the spa facilities for a fee through a contracted partner. We did not take advantage of either during our stay.

The range of reading material is also identical to other Lufthansa lounges and is limited to a handful of newspapers and magazines.

Boarding

Our gate was B27, a short five minute walk from the lounge.

The boarding process started on time with pre-boarding for families with children up to 5 years old and passengers who need assistance boarding. As is often the case, there was some confusion in Group 2 – for business class passengers – with some boarding passengers who were assigned a later group. However, the gate agent handled this in a confident and friendly manner.

All guests boarded the aircraft directly via a passenger boarding bridge.

Welcome

We were warmly greeted at the cabin door by the purser and a flight attendant. As soon as we were airborn and the seatbelt signs were switched off, we were welcomed once again on board by handing out a hot towel.

Start & Routing

The pushback took place at 17:40, 20 minutes later than originally planned. Loading the bags took longer and delayed the take off accordingly. We took off at 17:51 after a very short taxi.

We headed south and flew almost straight south-east over Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria right to the Bosporus where we landed at Istanbul IST airport.

Cabin & seat at Lufthansas A321

As with all European airlines, Lufthansa’s Business Class on short- and medium-haul flights consists of only one free middle seat in an otherwise identical seating configuration to Economy Class. The seats are installed in a 3 – 3 configuration, with only a little more space between the rows in the front.

The Lufthansa A312neo seats 215 passengers when fully loaded. Of course, this number is reduced the more rows are used for Business Class. By 2 seats per row.

On some Lufthansa aircraft, the middle seat in the first several rows of Business Class seats have an extra shelf. This gives you more space, but you can no longer sit next to each other in case you wish to.

A folding table is built into all seats. The table mechanism also includes storage space for all the utensils provided at the seat.

Entertainment

On short and medium-haul flights in narrow-body aircraft, Lufthansa does not offer any real entertainment. The in-flight magazine, the duty-free magazine, the safety brochure and the air-sickness bag are all found in the seat pocket.

Of course, you can also use your own digital devices to access a map, information and some games via the inflight Wi-Fi. You can also download digital magazines and/or newspapers to your mobile device from 3 days before departure.

However, you will need to organise your own entertainment. No monitors or tablets are provided by the airline.

Food, beverages & snacks

Right after take-off we served a glass of Avionic for Fabi and a glass of sparkling wine for Micha. And because you should always stay well hydrated on a plane, there was also a glass of water for each of us. Since the introduction of the new catering concept, the first round of drinks also includes a small bag of salted cashews.

For flights of 2.5 hours or longer, Lufthansa serves Business Class passengers a hot meal consisting of two options, including a starter and dessert. Fabi chose the meat option on this flight. I went for the vegetarian one. Mine was really delicious, but Fabi unfortunately didn’t like his meal. The dessert was somehow not what was on the menu – but still super tasty. All the dishes are served on one tray at the same time. Together with dinner came a second round of drinks.

Throughout our stay on board, our drinks were always refilled in a very friendly and proactive manner.

Just before landing, we were each given a really tasty praline.

Washrooms

There is one Business Class lavatory at the front of the aircraft and three more washrooms in the rear for Economy Class passengers.

The Business Class toilets are nothing special and are no different from the other toilets on board. The only difference is that there are fewer passengers using them. The small rooms offer no special amenities.

Service

As always (or at least most of the time) with Lufthansa, the service was very friendly, proactive and courteous. On this flight, the purser was very cheerful and created a great atmosphere in the cabin. In my opinion that´s what makes a flight so much more enjoyable and special.

And before we knew it, we were descending towards Istanbul.

Arrival

Despite the slight delay in departure, we landed 3 minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time. After a very long taxi, as is usual for Istanbul IST, everything was ready at the gate and we were barely in our parking position before the passengerbridge arrived and we were able to disembark.

Destination Airport

Istanbul IST is still a fairly new airport, but its sheer size comes with very long distances to cover. As we arrived there was very little going on, so passport control was completely empty. There was no one queueing ahead of us and immigration was super quick.

As we didn’t check in any suitcases so we didn’t have to wait at the baggage carousel. The baggage claim area is very large, with endless conveyor belts, but is very well laid out, bright and open. Finding your bags shouldn’t be a problem here.

It is only a few metres from the baggage carousels to the exit.

Departure and onward journey

We organized our own onward journey and were collected by a pre-booked vehicle. There is a specially designated area on the lowest level of the car park, which is easily reached by lifts from the arrivals level.

You can also take the train from Istanbul IST to the city in just under an hour. However, the terminus is quite far away and you will usually have to change at least once. However, the city is well served by public transport and you can actually get anywhere quite convenient.

We went straight from the airport to our first hotel in Istanbul. Grand Hyatt Istanbul was our home for two nights. So you will find the full review on this website next week.

Conclusion

Lufthansa Business Class on their A321 is a solid product. Sure, the seats can’t compete with real business class seats on comparable aircrafts on other continents – but unfortunately that’s the case all over Europe. As usual, the service was excellent and we touched down in Istanbul on time. Getting on and off the plane was a breeze. So all in all, a great flight.

Points

Accordingly, we can give this Lufthansa Business Class flight from Frankfurt to Istanbul IST nothing other than 10 out of 10 possible points.

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Recommendation

We can really recommend this flight with Lufthansa to all groups. Families, couples, singles and business travellers are all well catered for.

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