Hello everyone. I know and am sorry that it has been so long, but now that the school year is finally over, welcome to a new flight review! Today I will finally be reviewing the final flight of my summer trip. The details of the trip can be found here.
Hope you enjoy!
We arrived at Dusseldorf on another Lufthansa flight (the review of that flight can be found here). My first impressions of the terminal were that it was extremely crowded. Then, while walking towards our connecting gate we had to go through emigration (which made sense). But just look at the lines! The pictures don’t do justice to how long and disorganized the lines were, not to mention that they were blocking a whole section of the terminal. I do not know who thought three immigration officers would be enough during the peak summer season, especially when an A330 was about to start boarding.
We only had a ~75-minute connection. Considering that we also had to go through security questioning (more on that below), we were afraid that we would miss our flight.
Once we finally got to the security desks, there were no issues. To our surprise, however, right before entering our gate area, there was one more security measure, where they basically had a short ~30-second interview. Younger kids (I think 12 and under?) could skip it, but I needed to be questioned. They basically just asked me about my arm, which was in a sling at the time from an injury I sustained while riding a bike in Luxembourg (I know, I’m dumb) and then let me through. The plane was boarding as we walked into the small and crowded gate area.
As we walked through the long jetbridge, we got beautiful views of our 2008-delivered bird which would be carrying us on our nearly-8-hour Westward transatlantic crossing to Newark.
Flight Information
Lufthansa 408
Dusseldorf (DUS) – Newark (EWR)
Plane Registration: D-AIKK
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Flight Time: 7 hrs 49 min
Flown: July 2018
Seat: 35A
As we boarded and turned right, we walked through the Business Class cabin, as well as the small Premium Economy cabin. This configuration of Lufthansa’s A330 did not have First Class.
The Economy Class seat was comfortable and had a nice amount of recline, with an average amount of legroom as well. It was the same seat that I experienced on their A340 two weeks earlier. You can see more images of the seat in that review (click here).
On boarding, there was a pillow and blanket on the seat.
Headphones were handed out later on.
The content in the seatback pockets was the same as on my A340 flight as well, so I won’t go through them again.
There was an AC power port under the seat and a USB port beside the entertainment screen.
There was both a cup holder and coat hanger on the seat in front. These are two very underrated features, in my opinion.
The tray tables could be used either half open or fully open, which was another useful design element.
Interestingly, even though Lufthansa’s short-haul A320s have air vents, they are mysteriously lacking on the wide-bodied aircraft.
Shortly after boarding, the safety demonstration and the pushback began.
We then had a quick taxi and took off from Runway 05R at 11:39 AM. Somehow, the takeoff video was lost. I will update this post if I can find it.
We then ascended to our initial cruising altitude of 34,000 feet. 35 minutes after takeoff, crackers and drinks were served.
As I had my snack, I enjoyed the inflight entertainment system. I really like the Zodiac RAVE system as it is always responsive and has a crystal clear screen. The selection was good and the camera views were nice, but I already went into the system in more detail on a previous flight, so won’t on this one.
About an hour after the snack, lunch service began. There was a choice between chicken and pasta. I had the chicken on my Nairobi flight, so decided to try the pasta this time around. It wasn’t great, in my opinion. I am usually okay with airline pasta, but this one just didn’t taste too fresh and even made me feel a bit queasy. The side courses, including a salad with dressing, a bread roll with butter, cheese, a piece of chocolate, and a slice of orange cake, were all good. The metal cutlery was impressive for Economy Class and helped make the meal feel a bit more “premium”.
A water and coffee/tea service followed the meal.
The World Cup finals took place during our flight. Given that Lufthansa has live TV and was (thankfully!) streaming the match, a large portion of the people on the plane was watching and cheering. It made the environment very fun and lively for sure!
Another drink service took place two hours 48 minutes before landing. About 45 minutes later, there was a hot snack service, which consisted of a choice between a chicken calzone and a vegetarian pizza. I chose the pizza, which was exactly the same as the one on my Nairobi flight. Hot towels were handed out after the snack.
I just relaxed for the next couple of hours. Before I knew it, we were descending into Newark.
We touched down on Runway 22L at 1:28 PM local time, and had a quick taxi to our arrival gate in Terminal B.
From there, we deplaned and quickly went through immigration and collected our bags.
Well, this plane looks familiar! 😉
Overall, this was a nice way to cross the Atlantic. The flight was on time, the service was friendly, the seats were comfortable, the food was (mostly) decent, the entertainment was good, and the environment during the match was amazing. What more could you want from a daytime transatlantic crossing?
Thank you to everyone for reading this flight report. Sorry that there have not been many posts recently, but now that summer has begun, I will be posting more. I hope you have enjoyed this post, and see you very soon for the next trip report!
Jetbridge Journal 