#69 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
1598 reviews
Welcome, everybody, to another Flight-Report! In this review, I will be taking you along with me to fly with Lufthansa on the Boeing 747-400 in Economy from Bangalore, India to Frankfurt, Germany.
This review will cover the airport transit experiences in Bangalore and Frankfurt, as well as the onboard hard and soft products.
For each aspect of the flight, I will rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. The final score for the full experience will be out of 100.
This was the second leg of a five-leg return trip between Singapore and Edinburgh, UK. For this trip, I booked through Lufthansa for a routing of SIN-BLR-FRA-EDI-FRA-SIN for SGD1660/EUR1130. The first leg was operated by codeshare partner Singapore Airlines, a fellow member of STAR Alliance, while the other four, including this flight, were operated by Lufthansa.
I had been looking forward to this flight for months, the prospect of flying on the ever elusive 747-400 never fails to excite me. While I did not expect the highest ever standards of service and the hard product, I was still looking forward to having a great time onboard the Queen of the Skies.
My inbound flight SQ510 parked at gate B46A, in the beautiful new Terminal 2 at BLR. The moment I walked up the jetbridge, I was greeted by a young man holding up a sign with my name on it. Wondering what was up that got me such VIP treatment, I approached him and confirmed my identity. He then explained that he was to assist me through the transit process, since it was near impossible for me to do so myself, apparently.
Immigration
A group of transiting passengers, including me, were instructed to wait at the end of the hallway while the workers took away all our passports for checks, and they certainly took their time with it. During this time, pretty much every other passenger, including a rather noisy family, had all gone through. I would have countered my boredom by surfing the net, but the free airport Wi-Fi just so happened to require a local telephone number, and the counter which assisted with that by providing one-time codes, was on the other side of security, in the main departures concourse. Yikes.
History and current operations at the airport
During this time spent waiting for my passport to come back, let me run you through some facts about this airport! Kempegowda International Airport (BLR/VOBL), located in Bengaluru, India, was inaugurated in May 2008, replacing the older HAL Airport. Named after the city's founder, Kempe Gouda I, the airport quickly became a key aviation hub in southern India. As of now, it has two operational passenger terminals: Terminal 1, which handles both domestic and international flights, and Terminal 2, which recently opened in January 2023 to further accommodate growing traffic and larger aircraft including Code-F gates for the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8i. The airport also has two runways (09L/27R and 09R/27L). In recent years, Kempegowda airport has been the 3rd busiest airport in India, with its passenger volume peaking just in 2023 at 37500000 thanks to the new Terminal 2.
Transport to/from the airport
Located 35km from the city centre of Bengaluru, the airport is a hassle to get to for many. Currently, the only ways to get to and from the airport is by car or bus, through the National Highway 44, as well as rail connections that stop by near the airport 5 times a day. A metro line connecting the airport with the city is currently under construction and scheduled to open in December 2024, and talks of building a High Speed Rail link is also underway to further shorten travel times between the airport and the city.
Security
Anyways, after a brutal hour and a half of waiting, the man finally came back with my passport! He led me through the immigration hall where the officer stamped my passport and showed me through to the security hall. This transit security facility was quite small, with just two lanes. With no one else in the line, I was through in no time.
Airside again
A short ride in a lift later (the lift was playing Fur Elise through its speakers), we finally got to see humans in larger quantities for the first time in a while; the duty-free stores and restaurants were bustling with human activity. The man who had helped me get through said a quick goodbye after directing me to the booth to get Wi-Fi connection, and he soon disappeared out of sight. After getting my phone connected to the internet, I headed to the 080 Lounge hoping to find somewhere in there to get a good rest, but was disappointed to find out that the lounge was charging USD50 for entry.
Finding somewhere to sleep
After wandering around the terminal for a while admiring the stunning architecture, I came across a nice looking round leather sofa. Around the area were many people resting on such furniture, so I decided to rest here as well. Using my backpack as a pillow and holding on to my carry-on tightly, I slept for a solid 2 and a half hours before my phone alarm woke me up.
Gate Area
Since my flight was boarding soon, I headed towards my gate at C5.
The few gates on each side of mine were in operation too with departing flights to places like Abu Dhabi with Etihad and Doha with Qatar Airways. Hence, the area was really crowded. This was made worse by the fact that my flight had been delayed out of Frankfurt earlier on, and so this flight inbound was set to be late as well. At least the gate area had some views of our aircraft.
DEPARTURE AIRPORT SCORES 5/10
Flight information
Flight date: 28/11/2023
Airline: Lufthansa (LH/DLH)
Operated by: Lufthansa (LH/DLH)
Flight number: LH755
Route: Bangalore/Bengaluru (BLR) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Scheduled Departure Time: 03:35 (UTC+4.50)
Actual Departure Time: 04:33 (UTC+4.50)
Scheduled Arrival Time: 09:05 (UTC+1)
Actual Arrival Time: 09:50 (UTC+1)
Scheduled Flight Time: 10h00min
Actual Flight Time: 9h47min
Aircraft information
Aircraft Registration: D-ABVW
Aircraft Name: Wolfsburg
Aircraft Type: Boeing 747-400
Engines: 4× GE CF6-80C2B1F
Line Number: 1205
First Flight: 04/03/1999
Aircraft Age (as of flight): 24 years 8 months
Aircraft Delivered: 13/03/1999
Seating Configuration: J67W32Y272
Current operations at the airline
Lufthansa currently operates a large fleet of 325 aircraft with a very diverse fleet of aircraft of all sizes from Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and Embraer. (35 Airbus A319-100, 51 Airbus A320-200, 35 Airbus A320neo, 17 Airbus A321-100, 37 Airbus A321-200, 17 Airbus A321neo, 10 Airbus A330-300, 17 Airbus A340-300, 10 Airbus A340-600, 24 Airbus A350-900, 8 Airbus A380-800, 8 Boeing 747-400, 19 Boeing 747-8, 5 Boeing 787-9, 28 Bombardier CRJ-900, 4 Embraer E190). The average fleet age as of April 2024 is 13 years and 8 months. As of April 2024, Lufthansa is serving 229 domestic and international destinations across the globe from its hubs in Frankfurt FRA and Munich MUC. Lufthansa is also a founding member of the Star Alliance, one of the world's largest airline alliances.
Do check out my review of Lufthansa’s 747-8 in business class for more information on the airline’s history!
Boarding
Boarding was done in groups here. There were a total of 5 boarding groups and I myself was in group 4. Each group was made to line up in their own cordoned off area of the gate. While people were generally cooperative, the situation was still really messy, with the ground staff really struggling to get everyone through in an orderly fashion.
Once my group went forward, the process going through was relatively simple, speeding through the electronic gates. After going down an escalator, I was in the jet-bridge. The traffic in the jet bridge was momentarily held up as a boy around 10 years of age performed an action of emesis just before entering the aircraft, with a couple of cabin crew rushing over armed with tissues and newspapers, one of them asking in a not very soft but still concerned way if he was alright, but the other one almost rolling her eyes like she was not paid enough for this (they probably really are not). Not letting this mishap ruin my 747-400 experience, I held my breath to avoid inhaling any gastrointestinal fumes.
Welcome Onboard
I boarded through door L2, just behind the business class cabin laid out in a horrid 2-3-2 arrangement. Just there was the staircase leading to the upper deck, housing another business class cabin in a 2-2 arrangement. Turning right immediately, was the 4-row premium economy cabin, laid out in a 2-4-2 arrangement. This was not a separate cabin from economy, with just a couple tiny barriers sticking out from the ceiling to differentiate the cabin classes. The rest of the economy cabins were laid out in a 3-4-3 arrangement until the final 3 rows where the cabin narrowed due to the curvature of the aircraft, which were in a 2-4-2 arrangement. I found my seat, 55B, here.
Let’s take a look at Lufthansa 747-400’s economy class cabin and my seat.
Seat details:
Seat: 55B (Port-side window/middle seat*)
Seat type: Slimline
Seat model: -
Seat manufacturer: -
Seat pitch: 31”
Seat width: 17.3”
Recline: 6”
Class: Economy (Y)
Cabin: Rear economy cabin (between doors 3 and 4)
Seating arrangement: 3-4-3/2-4-2*
Features:
4-way adjustable headrest
Bi-fold retractable table
Fold-down cup holder
9” HD touchscreen IFE display
USB-A socket
Personal overhead reading light, but no individual air nozzles
*Due to the curvature of the aircraft towards the rear, there is not enough cabin width to maintain the standard 3-4-3 configuration. Hence, the last three rows are configured differently, with rows 54, 55, and 56 being configured 2-4-2. The leftmost seat in these two rows are hence the B seats, which is still in the middle seat position in line with the other rows, but also being the closest to the port-side windows. Hence, it is debatable if this is a window or aisle seat, but I would personally argue for it being a window seat. I even had two windows to myself!
Brief history of the seat:
This seat was introduced in 2015 with the retrofits of many Lufthansa aircraft, including the Boeing 747, Airbus A330, and Airbus A340 aircraft. This very aircraft, D-ABVW, was actually the first Boeing 747-400 in Lufthansa’s fleet to be retrofitted with this generation of the then-new cabins. Unfortunately, I could not find any sources that state the seat model and manufacturer online, so if anyone knows, please enlighten me in the comments.
Some thoughts about the seat:
Seat comfort: The seat had barely acceptable padding, so definitely not the most comfortable. They are also starting to show their age and looking slightly shabby. The surface of the seats also feels rougher than expected, with the seat covers looking rather displaced. My back ached a little after the flight.
Legroom: The seat pitch, at 31”, is pretty average. With the added space by the side due to the absence of the A seats of my row and the row in front, I had a limitless amount of space for my legs to stretch out.
Seat storage: On top of the standard under-seat storage, there was also a pretty sizeable seat-back pocket and a handy literature compartment below the IFE screen. There was also an abundance of space next to me due to the missing A seat.
Recline: The recline was quite decent, though nothing out of the ordinary. Just the average mid-2010s European airline levels of recline.
CABIN + SEAT SCORES 5/10
We pushed back soon, and the safety video was shown on the IFE screens.
Lufthansa’s safety video needs no introduction, it simply is one of the blandest and plainest airline safety videos out there, but gets through all necessary details with efficiency and no complications. Only the most important safety features were illustrated in colour, non-essential elements such as even the seats in the background were in grey!
The aircraft soon lined up on Bengaluru’s runway 09L for an eastward departure. We spooled up at 04:32 local time and rotated around 60 seconds later at 04:33. After lifting off, the aircraft turned left to a north-westerly heading of 329°.
Now is a good time to take a look at our flight path.
Our route out of Bengaluru took us over the west coast of India, Pakistan, Iran, Türkiye, the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia before we started our descent over Germany into Frankfurt. We cruised at 32000 and 38000ft. Unfortunately, the skies above Eastern Europe were extremely cloudy that morning, so I missed out on potential stunning views of beautiful snow-capped mountains below. Interestingly, a FlightRadar24 glitch occurred while we were cruising over eastern Türkiye, where our ground speed is shown to have jumped from around 410 knots to 657 knots, before jumping back down to around 400.
Unfortunately, I missed the after-takeoff snack service. I had heard terrible things about Lufthansa’s light snacks on these types of overnight flights, and could not wait to verify that for myself. However, even though I did my very best to stay awake for it, I eventually slipped off to sleep before the service started, unbeknownst to myself then. It was only until I found myself awake over a sunny Romania, did I truly realise in horror that I realised that I had missed the after-takeoff snack. My greatest apologies – I failed to do my job properly here as an amateur flight reviewer…
While the seat itself was not in the best condition, the sleep was relatively comfortable thanks to the space next to me which allowed my legs to stretch out. I only woke up after sunrise over Romania, a good 6 and a half hours into the flight, feeling pretty refreshed, though with an aching back from the seat.
I headed over to the central galley for a cup of water to rehydrate, and the cabin crew were nice enough to spare me a few seconds of their time to pour me a cup while they were busy preparing for the breakfast service.
SLEEP EXPERIENCE SCORES 7/10
Bedding
Since this was an overnight flight, a blanket and a pillow was provided at each seat. The blanket, which came neatly folded and secured with a paper wrapping, was large enough to cover myself. The pillow was small and provided limited support, but had a pretty high-quality fabric pillowcase.
Lavatories
The lavatories were kept decently clean throughout the flight. The most basic toiletries such as hand-wash were well stocked, but nothing else too exciting was to be found here. These 24-year-old lavatories were definitely showing their age, but all the facilities inside were in working order. The tap was a little confusing to operate, though.
AMENITIES SCORE 7/10
IFE System
The in-flight entertainment was provided by the Zodiac Rave system. Through the decently modern-looking 9” screen, the options for entertainment were pretty decent, with many movies, TV shows, music, and games on offer. The interactive flight map was also a nice touch, featuring some nice viewing angles of the aircraft.
Wired earpieces were handed out to every passenger.
Onboard Wi-Fi
This aircraft utilises the Inmarsat GX satellite Wi-Fi system for the inflight connectivity, branded Lufthansa FlyNet. However, I never got to make use of it as my phone refused to connect to the system.
Onboard charging
There was a USB-A charging port next to the IFE screen, but no Universal Power Outlets were to be found.
IFE SCORES 7/10
About one and a half hours prior to landing, the lights were brightened, and the breakfast service commenced. The cabin crew came up the aisle from front to back with their trolleys, handing each passenger their breakfasts. It did take a while for mine to arrive, but it was definitely far from the worst that I have experienced.
The meal tray comprised a hot breakfast dish, some fruits on the side, a small tub of fruit yoghurt, some marble cake, and a bread roll. Metal utensils were provided.
Breakfast dish: Omelette with Meat Loaf, Roasted Potato, and Roasted Tomato.
The omelette was cooked well, was nice and creamy, and was well seasoned. The meat loaf was a little bland and dry, but certainly still edible. The potato maintained a slight bit of crispness, though not having the most satisfying crunch ever. The tomato also tasted pretty good, though was a little soggy. Overall, I did quite enjoy this hot item, certainly not the best I have ever had on an aircraft, but still a nice way to start the day off.
Side: Mango flavoured yoghurt
At the side of the tray was a small tub of mango flavoured yoghurt. It was really tasty, though slightly too runny for my liking. Would’ve preferred if it were just a little more viscous.
Side: Bread roll with butter and strawberry jam
Dessert: Marble cake
The lukewarm bread roll and slice of marble cake were served on the same container, with the marble cake wrapped in plastic film. On the side was some butter, some strawberry jam, and a small packet of ‘Dhillkush’. I had the bread roll with the strawberry jam, but decided to experiment a little when cutting the bread roll, doing so in a criss-cross pattern. I am so incredibly sorry for how visually unappealing this turned out to be, but it did spread the jam throughout the bread pretty evenly.
The marble cake was pretty nice, but I did not quite enjoy the Dhillkush’s really strong attacks toward my gustatory senses.
Dessert: Fruits
The small fruit platter was not great. The papaya cubes were a little stale, and one of the grapes looked a little overripe. The rock melon pieces were enjoyable, though.
Drink: Orange Juice
For drink I opted for a (definitely not) freshly squeezed orange juice. It was a little unfortunate that the cabin crew only poured about half the cup’s capacity, though I was not missing out on too much there seeing the juice itself was far from fresh and delicious.
Drink: Coffee with milk and sugar
As the drinks trolley came round again after the meal, I had a coffee with milk and sugar. The milk was added in by the cabin crew member, and a single sachet of white sugar was handed to me. The coffee tasted good and was warming. No complaints here.
BREAKFAST SERVICE SCORES 7/10
Let’s talk about the cabin crew on this flight as we start our descent into Frankfurt.
Service speed
Service speed on this flight was okay, nothing too special to write home about, but certainly acceptable, and way better than the performance on my previous flight.
Service attitude
Did not see the cabin crew members too often apart from boarding, breakfast service, and disembarkation. The crew looked very tired and did not show much energy, and appeared rather cranky at times. While some were still pretty friendly, others felt really cold and distant.
(^look at those contrails!!! So stunning)
CABIN CREW SCORE 4/10.
The snowy German countryside followed by Frankfurt’s suburbs soon appeared beneath a thick blanket of clouds. It had just snowed in Frankfurt a couple days prior, and in fact many flights had been cancelled due to that. I count myself lucky that the outbound flight of mine was not affected by the snow.
We landed at 09:50 local time (45 minutes behind our scheduled arrival time of 09:05) on Frankfurt’s east-bound runway 07R after descending west-bound flying downwind.
The touchdown was pretty smooth, as I watched the speed brakes come on. I waited and waited for the reverse thrust to engage, but it never happened; the engines remained shut, and we just quietly drifted down the runway until slow enough to vacate it. Would appreciate if someone would enlighten me on why this was, was it because they wanted to prevent snow from getting blasted from the grass onto the runway?
The aircraft taxied past one of Condor’s beautiful A330-900neos (feel free to fight me in the comments if you disagree), before parking at our gate.
Strangely, it took quite a while, around 15 minutes or so, for the doors to open for disembarkation. The section of the jet bridge directly connecting to the aircraft was not sheltered, and I cannot imagine using that jet bridge in bad weather. It treated us to some brilliant views of the fuselage, wings, and engines, though. There were unfortunately no views of our aircraft at all from inside the terminal building.
Immigration
A short walk through the rather empty hallways of Frankfurt’s Terminal 1 later, I reached the immigration counters. There were no lines at the counters, and I was through in a matter of seconds. The immigration officers on duty were friendly.
I walked straight through the duty-free stores and the baggage reclaim area since my luggage had been checked all the way through to Edinburgh, meaning I did not have to explore Frankfurt while having to tug my heavy luggage along as well, hindering my movements, especially in the snow.
Operations at the airport
Frankfurt Airport (FRA/EDDF) currently has two terminals (T1 and T2, with a T3 under construction) and four operational runways: 07L/25R, 07C/25C, 07R/25L, and 18/36. Frankfurt Airport serves around 330 destinations across the rest of Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia, making it the airport with the most direct routes in the world. Frankfurt Airport’s busiest year was in 2019, when it handled 70600000 passengers, making it the 15th busiest airport in the world that year. In 2020 and 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers drastically declined, but are rising again as air travel bounces back. In 2023, Frankfurt Airport handled around 59400000 passengers.
Transport to/from the airport
Frankfurt Airport is well-connected to the city of Frankfurt and surrounding areas via a network of public transportation and motorways such as the A3 and A5. The airport is served by the S-Bahn, which is the city's suburban rail network, providing a convenient and efficient way to reach the airport from the city centre and various other parts of Frankfurt. The S-Bahn station (or regionalbahnhof) is located directly beneath Terminal 1, making it easily accessible for passengers. Additionally, Frankfurt Airport is well-connected to the regional and national rail network, with long-distance trains (such as Deutschmark Bahn ICE trains) stopping at the airport's train station, which is also connected Terminal 1.
For today, I made use of the S-8 train to head to Frankfurt Main Hauptbanhof, the main railway station serving the city of Frankfurt. The S-8 is a pretty frequent regional train service that runs around Frankfurt between Wiesbaden and Hanau, using DBAG Class 430 rolling stock. Return tickets bought at the station were around 10 euros from what I remember.
I ended up just taking a walk along River Main, before having some lunch and heading back to the airport.
ARRIVAL AIRPORT SCORES 8/10
Airports
Airport Experiences: 6/10
Hard Product
Seat Comfort: 5/10
Sleep Comfort: 7/10
In-flight Entertainment: 7/10
Aircraft Comfort: 9/10
Aircraft Cleanliness: 8/10
Soft Product
Breakfast Service: 7/10
Amenities: 7/10
Other Service: 6/10
Cabin Crew: 4/10
OVERALL RATING: 66/100
So, that was a look into my experience on the Boeing 747-400 with Lufthansa!
While none of the aspects of this flight were fantastic (apart from the tremendous amounts of legroom I had), the opportunity of experiencing the increasingly rare 747-400 Queen of the Skies is really all that matters for this flight, and I will certainly be remembering this flight for the glorious aircraft itself instead of all the shortcomings of the hard and soft onboard products. In that case, would I recommend Lufthansa’s economy product? Well, if it is on any of the fantastic 747s, A380s, and A340s, then absolutely for the aircraft yes! For other aircraft types, including the new Allegris A350 and 787s, do give it a shot as well for the updated hard products! From what I know, Lufthansa has been upgrading its soft product and services as well, so they should definitely be in your considerations when booking flights if the price and routing is right.
If you made it so far down, thank you so much! I really hope this review, as well as all my past and future reviews, can help you decide how you want to travel in the future.
Travel safe, and goodbye for now!
6 Comments
I traveled the same flight/same class on 20th March 2023, and had the connecting flight to LAX.
I totally understand the efficiency rating of Bangalore (BLR) airport. Could you tell in brief what are the points in BLR T2 should be taken care of from a foreigner point of view. Thanks.
BLR is a very promising airport! It has stunning architecture and is relatively organised. Just wished they had better technology of sorts when it came to immigration, especially for transiting passengers. Would probably have been a lot more efficient than the manual process had they implemented higher tech systems. For passengers, I would obviously recommend they give their transits enough time for the immigration process since it took really long for me and just a handful other travellers.
Other than that, I really don’t have much to comment, since I was only transiting and had not seen in person how journeying from the city to the airport would be like, though I have heard that it can be quite troublesome.
Very true. The BLR airport from the Bangalore city is nearly a 2 hour journey due to excessive traffic. And far from the city.
The terminal architecture wise is so well done but the airports' main aim is to provide a hassal free transit and connectivity between entering and boarding, but all BLR airport is provide a long walk through duty free.
People may find oit offensive, but my personal opinion, it's more a like a posh shopping complex rather an airport. Anyways, happy traveling. Good to read your report.
Despite the mediocre on board experience, it's still a hell of a beautiful bird to fly!
Thanks for sharing!
Definitely agree that pretty much all that draws us to these flights is the opportunity to fly on a B744, since the onboard products aren't all that great.
Personally, I don't mind not being able to lean on the wall with the seat so far away, since I personally dislike how often I find the cabin walls and windows oiled up from someone's sleeping and sweaty head on a flight prior... But it did make filming and taking pictures out the window a little harder, which wasn't ideal either.
Thanks for reading!
Login to post a comment.