As if you needed any more reasons to lust over airline lounges, we must say that some of the best photos and videos come from them. Proving this yet again is YouTube user Ross Johnson, aka Tumbles94, who emailed us to say that he's again used his perch in one of the Lufthansa lounges at Frankfurt International to capture mesmerizing tilt-shift, time-lapsed videos.

For this third installment—see the first two here and here—Ross spends a good long time shooting the 747s and smaller jets that scuttle around the tarmac, plus the drones of the support vehicles.

Note the changing light as the day progresses, and the shadows the clouds cast. Riveting stuff, and many thanks to Ross for continuing to produce these.]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-09T11:18:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/19/125318/539

Encore! Encore! It's time-lapse and tilt-shift at an airport! Last week we featured a great but short video shot from one of the lounges at Frankfurt Airport.

This week, the video's creator Ross Johnson, aka Tumbles94 on YouTube, returns with a longer version—about 40 minutes of shooting condensed via time-lapse into a hypnotic 1:20. Overall it's a bit like the full length novel to the earlier video's Cliffs Notes, but when is that a bad thing?

The star of this video, in our humble opinion, may just be those cranes going about their work with slow purpose, meanwhile the support vehicles hyperactively zip about like they've each downed a 5-Hour Energy drink.

Catch the first video here:]]> JetSetCD 2011-09-19T16:40:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/11/225737/106

Headed to Frankfurt anytime soon? If your answer is yes—and we wish ours was—you’re in for a little treat as your plane approaches the runway. Those crazy cats over at General Motors have installed quite a large display in a field around the airport, as they want everyone to realize that Chevrolet is a pretty big deal.

The giant Chevy advertisement is part of the company rolling out the welcome mat to important industry big wigs and hotshots attending this year’s auto show in Frankfurt. The Chevy sign takes up like 6,458 square feet of space—oh wow—and is obviously the biggest Chevrolet logo in the world. We have to admit, however, that we have a hard time thinking of any other logo in the world that’s even bigger than this one—right? ]]> kjb 2011-09-12T09:36:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/3/9529/80377

Steven Frischling—airline geek, professional photographer and travel security blogger of Flying With Fish—just returned from Lufthansa's first A380 flight between Frankfurt and New York. For us he shares his range of feelings on the trip, Jaunted's second-ever special rendezvous with this plane:

The word "behemoth" does not adequately describe the Airbus A380-800, especially when you're standing underneath it, but it's got to do.

I have stood beneath the Boeing 747-400, stood inside the engine of a Boeing 777-200 and flown in the cavernous belly of a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, each of which are massive in their own right. I have seen the Airbus A380-800 from a distance...and it seemed gargantuan even then.

The other day, for the first time, I had the opportunity to explore an Airbus A380-800 up close, at Lufthansa's Frankfurt Technik maintenance hangar. It was then that, upon walking up to the A380, instantly my idea of the airplane was changed from other superlatives to simply "behemoth."]]> flyingwithfish 2011-03-03T10:01:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/2/1219/70855

Steven Frischling—airline geek, professional photographer and travel security blogger of Flying With Fish—just returned from Lufthansa's first A380 flight between Frankfurt and New York. While camped out at FRA, he did some special snooping for us...behind the velvet ropes of the First Class Terminal:

For the vast majority of travelers, the single most stressful portion of air travel is the experience of the airport. Airport terminals are crowded, noisy places, where security lines may move at a snail's pace and security screeners may be less than polite, not to mention that it's rare to find a comfortable seat and the food options are dismal.

For the privileged, however, Lufthansa has a solution to all of these common traveler complaints, and more; it's the First Class Terminal on the grounds of Frankfurt International Airport.

Lufthansa's First Class Terminal (FCT) is technically not a lounge, or even located in the main terminal; it's actually an independent terminal completely dedicated to meeting the needs of (and pampering) first class passengers flying internationally. Simply put, it's an experience of multiple upscale services, as well as serving as a haven from the usual stress of traveling. ]]> flyingwithfish 2011-03-02T09:31:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/8/16/03712/8462

We like to think of ourselves as intrepid international travelers, but in one respect, we are utterly, hopelessly North American: we only drive automatic cars. Ordinarily this doesn’t make renting a car too difficult, but while we were planning a recent summertime excursion in France, we discovered just what a handicap it is.

Not only was it nearly impossible to find an automatic car outside Paris (and even in the city, we had to query certain agency locations), but heaven forbid we had to make any changes to our reservation, because that would set us back another carload of either time or money. Here are some of the potential pitfalls we swerved to avoid during our recent reservation fiasco, but if you’ve got tips of your own, let us know!
]]> EricRosen 2010-08-16T14:24:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/6/15/21473/3067

Would you believe that Lufthansa, Germany's flag-bearing airline with the professional image, has a full sand volleyball court inside of their Frankfurt Headquarters? Well, they do. Too bad it's classified as "art" and not allowed to be used for actual lunchtime volleyball games.

This is just one of the many surprises we stumbled upon recently when Lufthansa graciously took us on a tour of their state-of-the-art Aviation Center, a new building alongside Frankfurt International Airport, with a birds-eye view of all the tarmac action, but with a focus on the interior as well.

The Aviation Center was completed in 2005, and yet it's still only half-done. Lufthansa wants to double its size and extend the wing-like structure, but for now this will do. It consists of glass-enclosed office blocks separated yet joined by nine interior gardens, each with original art and its own biosphere-like environment, from a Japanese zen garden to Australian outback. The glass-latticed roof allows the building to breathe while being protected from the elements, and keeps the structure extremely energy-efficient. Actually, the whole place is very eco-conscious, with sustainable materials used in the building and recycling and conservation stressed everywhere. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-06-16T09:35:52-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/