Tag: Lufthansa

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No Germany for You: One-Day Strike Cancels 1,700 Lufthansa Flights Today

Where: Germany
April 22, 2013 at 9:53 AM | by | Comments (0)

Today could be a rough day at the airport, so we recommend charging up those electronic doodads and maybe even grabbing a magazine. Lufthansa is having a little bit of a problem with their worker bees today, and as a result they’re canceling all kinds of flights.

In total it sounds like they are proactively canceling around 1,700 flights; however, most appear to be shorter flights in and around Europe, as well as domestic options. It’s all part of a one-day strike finalized late last week, as a group representing around 33,000 Lufthansa employees hopes to show the carrier that they need a little more cash in their paychecks.

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Hawaiian Airlines, Icelandair and American Airlines Lead This Week's New Route News

April 19, 2013 at 8:55 AM | by | Comments (0)

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Hawaiian Airlines:
It’ll be a little bit of time before things start flying back and forth, but Hawaiian Airlines is once again eager to get over to Asia. This time they’re planning to fly all the way over to China, as if things go according to plan the nonstop flights will run back and forth between Honolulu and Beijing.

Things should start in April of 2014, so you certainly have some time to get the funds in order if you’re looking to take advantage of this new route. This is international destination number 10 since November 2010 for Hawaiian Airlines, and this new flight should do its thing three times per week. Sounds like more tourism dollars will be arriving in the Aloha State, or it’s just a great stopover on the way back from China—Beijing, Waikiki, and then home.

· Lufthansa:
Here’s a little bit of an aircraft announcement, as it looks like Lufthansa and one of their A380s is on the move once again. Beginning on September 26, Lufthansa will be connecting Frankfurt with Shanghai five times per week, and it’ll all be done thanks to the Airbus A380.

The world’s biggest passenger aircraft will leave Germany around 5:20pm or so local time, and will arrive over in China at 9:55am—fancy. There’s room for 526 passengers across three different cabins, so we’re pretty sure there’s a seat that’s perfect for you. That’s not it when it comes to new airplane news either, as the latest Boeing bird—the 747-8—will now be doing its thing between Frankfurt and Los Angeles thanks to Lufthansa.

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What It's Like to Run on a Runway at New York's JFK Airport

April 15, 2013 at 2:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

Let's race! Running shoes? Check. Healthy breakfast? Check. Warm-up stretches? Check. A runway course at New York's busiest international airport? CHECK.

This past Sunday, April 14, nearly 1,000 runners and aviation enthusiasts resisted hitting the "Snooze" button and got their butts to JFK Airport for the 41st Annual JFK Runway Run. The 5K course actually closes a major runway to air traffic, while the rerouted aircraft continue landing and taking off like normal on other runways. No earplugs needed, but most runners had a camera in hand.

Registration was $25 in advance and $30 onsite. We were lazy and showed up at 7am for the 9am race to ensure we secured a last-minute spot. Come to find out that our worry was all for naught; anyone who showed up and paid was welcome to race.

The 963 participants were runners and walkers of all ages and ability levels, and even those in wheelchairs were welcome to have a pusher. We watched as one little girl, who couldn't have been older than 8, spent her time walking the runway and taking iPhone photos of planes. Very cute. Meanwhile, the serious runners were probably well into their lunches; the fastest times were just over 20 minutes while the slowest (ours) was 1 hour and 20 minutes. Yes, we proudly finished 963rd on account of all the aircraft distractions.

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Jaunted Originals: Inside Three Airport Arrival Lounges

February 25, 2013 at 10:03 AM | by | Comments (0)

What's that saying? Ah yes, "the best camera is the one you have on you." Since we're never without a camera and hardly ever not traveling, we've managed to capture a serious collection of travel photos in our numerous Photo Galleries.

To start the week off right, let's venture behind the tight doors of the Arrival Lounges of three airlines: Lufthansa at Frankfurt Airport, Cathay Pacific at Hong Kong Airport and Delta at London-Heathrow. We say "tight doors" because typically entrance to these lounges—lounges which sit outside security on the Arrivals level—only admit international travelers coming off their flights, holding tickets for Business or First Class.

The spaces may be small, but the comfort of Arrivals lounges are large. You can count on a private shower, breakfast, cozy chairs, free WiFi, and a quiet corner to read the day's paper before heading into the city for a meeting or while awaiting your ride.

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Girl Power: The Photo of Female Pilots That Nearly Caused an Airport Controversy

Where: Germany
January 17, 2013 at 9:38 AM | by | Comment (1)

When was the last time you flew in a plane piloted by a woman? What about two women, both pilot and co-pilot? It's possible to not even know since passengers rarely see their flight crews much anymore, but they are up there. Trust us.

Starting this week, travelers on Lufthansa will get to see the very rare occurrence of two women in the cockpit...before even stepping onboard a plane. Famous Berlin-based photographer Kiki Kausch has installed her triptych, titled "A380 Female Cockpit," at the JFK Business Class lounge.

The three images capture two normal Lufthansa pilots, Fleur and Karin, at work in their office, which just happens to be the cockpit of one of the airline's A380 superjumbos en route from Frankfurt to Singapore (LH 778). The photos were actually taken as the plane cruised high above Afghanistan, the ethereal light of sunrise over the Hindukush illuminating the women.

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Your Moment of Zen: A Time-Lapse Trip on a Lufthansa A380

December 21, 2012 at 1:49 PM | by | Comment (1)

We have a theory when it comes to enjoying seatback in-flight entertainment. You're either an Airshow person or not. By Airshow, we mean that channel that constantly rotates between the moving map and stats of your flight, like outside air temperature, speed and time to destination. Those passengers who are Airshow people could easily leave the seemingly boring channel on through the entire flight and be sufficiently entertained, whereas a non-Airshow person flips from movie to 30 Rock rerun, to playing Bejeweled.

This post goes out to all you Airshow people. The Airbus A380 is totally the plane for you. You see, it goes above and beyond the Airshow channel to offer three additional channels, each with a livestream from a camera on the exterior of the plane. One looks down to the ground below, one looks out front—a pilot's view, and the third looks over the entire plane from the rear.

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An In-Flight Drink Gone Nearly Extinct: The 'Lufthansa Cocktail'

November 30, 2012 at 7:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's been far too long since we last named an "in-flight cocktail of the month," but there's a good reason for that. You see, airlines just don't offer all the libations they once did, and a prime example of this is the classic Lufthansa Cocktail.

Though the Orange-Apricot liquor of 12 ingredients was once served to passengers onboard Lufthansa flights decades ago (sometimes even in cute mini bottles), the Lufthansa Cocktail is now so extremely rare that it can only be had in two ways:

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Inside the Newest (and Largest) Lufthansa Lounges at Frankfurt Airport

Where: Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany
November 28, 2012 at 5:42 PM | by | Comments (0)

What do you do when you've just built an airport addition that, in itself, is the size of a whole other airport? Well, if you're Lufthansa at Frankfurt International, you fill it with some superlatives like, say, the largest lounge in the entire system.

This is the case at FRA's brand new A-Plus Concourse, where the LH Senator Lounge on the non-Schengen departures level takes top spot. Its 23,000 square feet easily beats the 19,400 square feet of the airline's next largest lounge, which just happens to be next door in Terminal 1 proper. In total, A-Plus adds five sparkling new, sprawlingly spacious lounges to the roster: a First Class Lounge, a Senator Lounge and a Business Lounge on the EU Departures and Arrivals level and, on the non-European area (Non-Schengen area), there is a Senator Lounge and a Business Lounge.

Now that we've shown you around the rest of the A-Plus Concourse, it's time to have our boarding pass checked, grab a Frankfurter Allgemeine and a tall, cold glass of Franziskaner beer and have a good look around a couple of these spaces.

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Frankfurt Airport's New A-Plus Concourse: A Super Home for Superjumbos

Where: Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany
November 19, 2012 at 11:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last month, Lufthansa opened the brand-spanking-new A-Plus Concourse at Germany's Frankfurt International Airport. Why's it so special? Well, among other things, it's directly designed for the biggest, baddest airplanes out there. We're talking A340s, 747s, 747-8is, and the almighty A380. This week, we'll take you inside and all around this place through which some 6 million travelers will journey each year.

If you're an airport whose tarmac is already crawling with superjumbos and you're about to add another 6 million passengers per year, what do you need? The answer: Lots and lots of space. German efficiency. An airline with enough mega planes and super long routes to keep the place hopping. So there you go. The answer is Frankfurt and its hometown airline, Lufthansa.

Speaking of German efficiency, let's talk tech. For passengers, Pier A-Plus boasts self-scan boarding gates, which are awesome if you hate waiting in lines. For operations, the addition of A-Plus means Frankfurt International has the world's largest airport baggage handling system. All of this becomes more and more important with each day, as Frankfurt looks to have a whopping 90 million travelers annually by 2020, up from 56 million in 2011. And those flyers will be stepping into FRA from more and more superjumbo aircraft.

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Inside Frankfurt Airport's Completely New A-Plus Concourse: Six Million Travelers Can't Be Wrong

Where: Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany
November 16, 2012 at 1:42 PM | by | Comment (1)

Last month, Lufthansa opened the brand-spanking-new A-Plus Concourse at Germany's Frankfurt International Airport. Why's it so special? Well, among other things, it's directly designed for the biggest, baddest airplanes out there. We're talking A340s, 747s, 747-8is, and the almighty A380. This week, we'll take you inside and all around this place through which some 6 million travelers will journey each year.

0500 hours.

The seatbelt sign is on and traytables are up and locked. The Lufthansa Airbus A380 named "Tokio" is on final approach to Frankfurt International and we're inside.

Seat 15K.

It's a window, upper deck, right over the hulking wing of this superjumbo. Looking out, the airport on the horizon glows with the fluorescence of its millions of lights, pre-dawn. Usually we're not super anxious to leave a plane to experience the airport, but Frankfurt is an exception.

Wheels down.

Turning off onto the taxiway, we can already spot the many Lufthansa crane logos that adorn each Star Alliance gate. It's pretty obvious who rules this coop.

Rounding a corner, the A380 aims for its new home on the ground—a long, sleek concourse with gates and facilities designed for its massive dimensions. Whereas the plane squeezes itself into other airports, like buttoning pants two sizes too small, here it finds Frankfurt's just-opened A-Plus Concourse is tailor-made with breathing room. Once we've parked, three jetbridges stretch out to welcome over 500 passengers into these fresh digs.

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Alaska, Austrian Airlines and Frontier Bring Plenty New Route News This Week

November 16, 2012 at 9:20 AM | by | Comments (0)

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Alaska Airlines:
To us it’s pretty clear that Alaska Airlines may like Hawaii even more than Alaska. They're about to send even more love out to the islands, as once again they’ve announced another nonstop flight over to Hawaii. This time it looks like San Diego will be getting a flight right over to Kauai—Lihue to be specific.

The flights will start up on June 7 of next year, and will be a nice compliment to the other flights out of San Diego to the islands of Maui and Oahu. That’s not the end of the news, as Alaska Airlines is also linking San Diego with Boston beginning on March 29. They might be totally different destinations, but if you’re in San Diego both Hawaii and Massachusetts are now one flight closer.

· Austrian Airlines:
It’s time for yet another new nonstop flight over to Europe. The plan is to connect Chicago with Vienna beginning on May 17, 2013, five times per week. Boeing 767s will be doing the heavy lifting across the Atlantic, and the flights will have lie-flat beds up in the business class cabin as well as a new in-flight entertainment system in both cabins. In total there will be around 26 nonstop flights between North America and Europe next summer, so no matter when you need to go—Austrian Airlines has got you covered.

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Inside the Lufthansa Lounge at New York's JFK Airport

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York , NY, United States
November 13, 2012 at 1:16 PM | by | Comments (0)

Last month, Lufthansa opened the brand-spanking-new A-Plus Concourse at Germany's Frankfurt International Airport. Why's it so special? Well, among other things, it's directly designed for the biggest, baddest airplanes out there. We're talking A340s, 747s, 747-8is, and the almighty A380. This week, we'll take you inside and all around this place through which some 6 million travelers will journey each year.

Before we can have a peek around the A-Plus Concourse at Frankfurt Airport, we've got to get there first! LH 401 leaves JFK at 3:45pm and arrives FRA just after 5am, as one of the absolute earliest flights to put its wheels down at Frankfurt International each day. As you've effectively got to hit the ground running, it's extra important that those pre-flight hours are extra restful or productive. This is where the 16,000-sq ft Lufthansa Flagship Lounge at JFK's Terminal 1 comes into play.

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