Trip Report: Lufthansa Business Class 747 to Singapore

Originally when launched, the Lufthansa Boeing 747-800 in Business Class boasted Experience unparalleled luxury in Lufthansa Long Haul Business Class with spacious seating, gourmet dining and premium services.

Or, if you prefer, you can get quaint outdated seating, basic meals, and some rather dull lounges. How can the two co-exist? By being a decade apart, and that is how fast Business Class has moved, with most passengers expecting far larger seats and fine dining.

In this Trip Report I'll be flying Lufthansa's Business Class on the 747 to Singapore. Now, there are very few 747s left any more, but I'm lucky enough to have found one.

Lufthansa Lounge Frankfurt

Frankfurt Airport is the busiest airport by passenger traffic in Germany and Lufthansa has an amazing fourteen lounges at Frankfurt/Main International Airport, and with a star alliance gold card I can get into most.

Lufthansa has a rather odd way of levelling status; if you pony up for a Business Class ticket, you only get into the Business Lounge - which sounds logical until you twig that the Senator lounges - which you can access in economy with a gold card - are actually better quality.

The Frankfurt Senator B41/43 lounge is the absolute flagship of Lufthansa Lounges.

It's famous as the City Lights lounge - as you can see the lights of Frankfurt's main shopping centre from the window.

Most people just head straight to the fully staffed bar, which has four champagnes on offer, and cocktails mixed on demand.

The hot food offerings are not particularly good in the Lufthansa Senator Lounge Frankfurt B43. Typically there are two hot options, with a pot of rice, and a pot of potatoes. However, the hot meat options normally include a colourful carrot stew, or a Beef stew. There's meatballs and mash, hot soup, an OK salad bar which tends towards varieties of herbed lard, and a German speciality of the month, which can encompass everything from noodles to Ramen soup.

However, it's all about the bar, if only so you can numb your senses from the blandness of the decor. The bar has excellent and well trained staff who will mix up a cocktail on demand. There is even a cocktail menu. The bar itself incorporates unique lighting effects that have been created with over 30,000 LEDs no less.

There is even a small make your own cocktail table, with instructions, opposite the refectory area. These rotate once a month, and today it was Limoncello months, or a Florale Marini.

There is also modern wellness area - which is basically two small spa rooms, offering massages, facials, and full-body treatments at 120 euro a pop.

Indeed it's hard to work out what's wrong with the Frankfurt Lufthansa lounge. It does the job, but it's as if the designers just provided the main elements you need in a lounge, such as seats, snacks, walls and a roof. And didn't bother to go any further.

Lufthansa Senator Z50 Non-Schengen lounge

In hunt of a better lounge I had to take a long train down a short pier, and go to the non-Schengen area.

The Frankfurt Lufthansa Senator Z50 Non-Schengen lounge is the largest Lufthansa lounge worldwide, spanning almost 2,100 square metres. It needs to be, as it gets a lot of long haul traffic, with some passengers here for hours.

There is a decent buffet, lots of seats, a nap area, phone booths, and an OK bar.

There is also a lovely model of a Lufthansa 747.

The main Lufthansa Frankfurt Lounge is fitted out in Lufthansa's new design, with backlit walls and forest motifs, (apparently these give a relaxing atmosphere) and with leather and oak materials. Lufthansa say the new design is all about clean lines and European elegance. And it does indeed create a restrained and very contemporary look, but somehow just seems a little bland.

On a hot plate today there was hot finger food with Chicken Wings or pizza slices, plus a big bowl of chilli con carne, or chicken stew and rice, and another bowl of hot soup which changes daily. There are also some good deserts in the fridge, and packets of biscuits and nuts.

The bar in the Lufthansa Frankfurt Senator Lounge International is self serve, with five types of sparkling wine - alas, there is no champagne. Three more types of white are in the fridge, and two reds with tasting notes on the worktop.

At the far end some recliners with great views of the apron, so you can get some sleep before your harder more uncomfortable upright business class seats on the plane.

However, it was shortly time to board a still existent, and flying, Boeing 747 all the way from Frankfurt Main to Singapore Changi, which is 10 thousand kilometres or 6 and a half thousand miles in old money.

The gate was ready, much to the shock of many passengers who were waiting for the Singapore Airlines flight, which takes an identical route and leaves at the same time, but leaves from a different terminal, and dozens of passengers had 10 minutes to make it to the other side of the airport.

It's a cold clear night as we leave Frankfurt Main Concourse Z - for non-Schengen - which sits on top of Concourse A. The airport is named after the longest tributary of the Rhine - the main which rises in the snowfields of northeastern Bavaria, and not named for the practical reason that it is the main airport in Germany.

Lufthansa Boeing 747 Business Class Seats

The business class configuration of the Lufthansa B747-800 is 2-2-2 on the main deck and 2-2 on the upper deck. There are 80 Business Class seats on the Lufthansa 747, with one small upper deck, and two big cabins downstairs.

I had a window seat, at the bulkhead, which is by far the best seat in Business Class.

I go upstairs, which has a long narrow 2-2 layout with 8 rows of 32 seats. The advantage of the upper deck is that you have an extra compartment to the side of the seat to store your personal belongings. However, particularly in the window seats, the area where you place your feet is tight when the seat is in the bed position.

Comparing it with the seats downstairs it down look much more sophisticated - almost, but not quite - a private jet feel.

It's clean and unremarkable yet very German-esque design, with white cabin walls and grey seat covers creating a neutral colour palette.

I nipped downstairs to have a look at economy too - that's in a 3-4-3 layout with 31 inch pitch - almost identical to what the original 747s had in the 1970s.

Premium economy is oddly sandwiched in the middle of economy - a run of the mill 38 inch pitch and a 2-4-2 setup.

As soon as I arrived at my seat I found the amenity kit, blanket and pillow. The mattress topper is stuffed into the cubby hole infront.

The doors were closed at the scheduled time but the flight took off about 45 minutes late, which didn't really surprise me with the problems Lufthansa has had with punctuality lately.

One issue is that all pairs of seats are angled slightly towards one another. Great for couples - a bad plan for solo travellers, since the feet compartment is right next to your neighbours, and your feet occasionally touch in the night.

Indeed the seat feels completely dated for Business Class with a lack of privacy, and not even a divider between paired seats.

The Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 Business Class seat is quite comfortable in the upright position, with a pitch of 162 cm (64 inch) and a width of 52 cm (20,5 inch). A reading light is located next to the head rest. The centre arm rest holds the seat controls, a handset for the inflight entertainment, and a fold-out tray table. The other armrest - either along the window or the aisle - can be lowered or raised (this allows for more comfort in the seat's flatbed position).

Lufthansa Business Class amenity kit

At least there are the high quality Lufthansa slippers, and there is a At least there is a decent amenity kit - if you can find it - in the small tiny hidden compartment in the bulkhead wall. It's got the usual socks, eye mask toothbrush and L'Octain moisturiser.

You also get a fairly good pair of pyjamas.

Lufthansa Business Class IFE

I had a delve into the Lufthansa IFE entertainment system. You need to lift the cocktail tray before the drinks arrive to access the remote.

Headphones are by AKG - and they aren't at all bad. These are the N60 NC with best in class active noise cancellation - and I was really rather impressed. At 450 dollars a pop you'll want to take them off the plane - except that is forbidden.

Unimpressive is the Lufthansa entertainment interface which is straight out of the turn of the millennium. In the noughties this was state of the art, and I had to remind myself we have rather moved on since those days. Which after all was only a decade ago.

Lufthansa has wifi on it's 747. It's 27 euro for the flight, and with speeds up to 4 megabits per second. That's really not very fast.

However, there is another way to get the net - GSM. It allows you to roam using your normal phone 4G on the planes GSM network. It is mainly designed for Deutsche Telekom

However Vodaphone also has an Lufthansa agreement which is way cheaper than the inflight wifi. And also much slower.

It is also worth noting the main power sockets in the centre console, but no USB, to keep your devices charged.

Lufthansa Business Class Cocktails

Lufthansa just lists the miniatures which are the same as you get back in economy. I'll save the Jagermeiser and RamaZooti for later, and instead headed first into a good Gin and Tonic.

I was also served warm nuts in a bowl.

Lufthansa Business Class meals

Starts:

• Duck Breast with red cabbage, cashew nut and lingonberry
• Tuna Tataki with rouille sauce, broccoli and cashew nuts
• Pickled Pumpkin with onion and grapes

Salad: Cranberry and walnut, with delicate dressing

• Roast goose and cabbage, with potato dumpling
• Pike perch with beluga lentil stew, and truffle pea puree
• pumpkin filled ravioli served with orange sauce, pumkin wedge and pumpkin seeds

I started with the Duck and Cabbage with lingonberry. It was actually really rather good.

There's also a lovely goat salad - washed down with lashings of balsamic vinegar.

It was also great to get some real German rye bread.

you know when you see a tray of slops on your airline tray and you prey it tastes better than it looks to sustain the next 14 hours... and then your taste it...

Well I did, and my taste buds loved me forever.

Tender meat cooked to perfection and paired with tangy and sweet cabbage.

The dumpling looks like something you get on the autobahn to a Hamburg, but even that was light and crisp with all the flavour of west rhine westpahlia.

And we head into a dessert with a creamy cheesecake with red berry compote.

Again, a real surprise from Lufthansa, it's lovely light and delicious.

The Lufthansa crew were almost desperate to please, and serve the cheese course.

• Montagnolo Blue
• Olive Cheese
• Goats cheese

Which would, and should, be amazing, if only there was a little more description about the cheese itself.

Lufthansa Business Class wine

• Sankt Anna Resiling 2022 Lergenmuller, Pflaz, Germany
• Chardonnay Black Label 2022 Pasqua Veneto Italy
• Gruner Veltlinger Langenlois 2022 Schloss Gobelsburg, Kamptal
• Chateau Le Monteil d'Arsac 2015, Cru Bourgeois Haut Medoc
• Guarda Rios Red Blen Ravasqueiro 2020 Alentejo Portugal
• Coonawarra Estate Shiraz 2021 Wynns Australia

A really good wine was the Pflaz Resiling - a Sankt Anna made by the Lergenmuller family with all the hint of terroir and a lush aroma of plums and pears. I was quite impressed.

I moved onto the Gruner Veltlinger from Schloss Gobelsburg in Kamptal. an excellent winery in Austria having a fine smoothness.

And then the Pasqua - this is a black label Chardonnay from Italy - an absolute ambassador of the Verona Chardonnays and goodness it gets better after the second and third glass.

Medoc and the Chateau Le Monteil is basically a Cab Sav mixed with Merlo in vast tanks but with amazing smooth Tanins...

Incidentally, the Lufthansa staff never have a problem with offering another glass, indeed I was positively waving away their top ups every three minutes just so I could get a minute to film it as we head over the black sea and just south of the Crimea Peninsular.

Meanwhile the Ravasqueiro is a classic Portuguese blend with dark berries, and notes of tobacco.

After the wine, I try the beer. On the top deck the Lufthansa galley is set up with juices and Erdinger Weisenbeir. Brewed and bottled in Germany since 1886, Erdinger is a hazy pale yellow brew, rich with yeast flavours that crawl out of the bottle and get you ready for a humdinger of a hangover.

Lufthansa Business Class Breakfast

I managed to get about six hours sleep and woke up just north of Hyderabad having overflown Raipur. I slept amazingly well, which was surprising The seat is old, but in context it does work.

The crew offered me breakfast. The options were

• Scrambled egg and sweet potato ragout
• Semolina porridge and pofferties
• Yoghurt bowl with cranberry and walnut.

I washed this down with a glass of Lufthansa's Bloody Mary with grey goose vodka.

I thought I was the only one on the plane drinking, but a quick look around the upper deck shows at least two thirds of Lufthansa's passengers like this way to fly.

Indeed, it was heading into late afternoon in Singapore, so the bar was fully open, and the crew came around a small box of chocolates and biscuits - and of course glasses of champagne.

On this flight Lufthansa have moved onto the Heidsieck Monopole BlueTop, a batch brew of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

It's not the most subtle of the champers, with a powerful, vigorous, and highly vivacious flavour. Although it was very popular with the Emperor of Germany, back in the day.

The nose has aromas of stewed fruits with hints of honey. There are also floral notes of white flowers dominated with cherry plumes, oranges, and peaches.

Lufthansa Business Class 747 review

So, what did I make Lufthansa in Business Class on the Boeing 747-800 to Singapore?

The seat, old though it is, is quite comfortable and best described as fine. It is however quite retro in it's lack of privacy, and almost everyone expects direct aisle access in Business Class nowadays.

The Lufthansa business class seat has decent bedding, but it is simply not the most comfortable any position, especially in the lie-flat position when my feet were mere inches from my seatmate. The mattress pad and plush comforter were very much appreciated. Indeed thank goodness for the mattress as without it, the seat is quite firm.

There was a lovely crew who really tried hard to make it a special flight.

There is wifi and GSM phone roaming, which is a bonus, but the Inflight entertainment system is on a rather ancient platform, and look archaic, but is otherwise rather good with a decent screen and a lot of modern up to date content..

The food looks far worse than it is, and the bar is free flowing.

However, many people describe it as disappointing, and so it is.

At best I'd describe it as average, or middle of the road.

I can't help but feel that part of the problem is that the aviation work has quite simply moved on. And Lufthansa has yet to catch up.

See the full Trip Report: Lufthansa Business Class 747 to Singapore video:

Trip Report: Lufthansa Business Class 747 to Singapore
Lux-traveller.com rating:6 out of10
Seats:	6 - Older style business class seats with little privacy
Food:	6 - surprisingly good
Service:	7 - Decent, not exceptional
IFE:	5 - OK, but not the best