Review Lufthansa flight aboard a 747/800 from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca (and back)

My 2021 had to start with a madness, Around the world in 5 days starting in London and making stops, just long enough for a beer, in Frankfurt, Tokyo, Sydney, Auckland, Honolulu and San Francisco.

The pandemic and closed borders have twice canceled the trip, which is now scheduled for late 2022. My madness was meant to celebrate my desire to return to air travel, and that ticket was the perfect solution.

So when the news came out that Lufthansa would operate a less than two-hour route with its flagship, namely the 747/8, to fly from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca, I did not let the ticket slip through my fingers.

In response to booming demand, the German carrier has decided to operate four round-trip routes on four Saturdays.

So I had two options: make a day trip there and back or stay a week on the Mediterranean island. Of course I chose the former, because the latter would be a vacation, not a madness.

To make the trip more unique, I took the outbound ticket in economy and the return ticket in business. In the first case, however, I chose, at the time of booking, a seat that on a regular flight on this queen of the skies would have been premium economy.

For the return trip, unfortunately, the most exclusive seats, those in First Class, sold as business, were already sold out so I settled for seat 88A, which is the last row on the window-side upper deck, the one from which there is the best view of this Jumbo's engines.

Approach flight

The trip did not start in Frankfurt, but in Nice where I took the flight, again LH that took me to the financial capital of the EU.

Before embarking quick lounge hop, just long enough for coffee.

At the airport

Upon arrival at the German airport I immediately headed to gate A68, for those familiar with this airport the most remote in the terminal where Lufthansa operates and where as many as 5 Queens of the skies were ready at the gates. In these pandemic months Lufthansa retired the 747/400s, parked pending better times the A380 and the A340s, while he continued to fly this 747 model.

Even if I wanted to, I would not have I was able to stop in the lounges of LH, too much queue and too little time between the two flights.

As I arrived at the gate, the exceptionality of the morning was in the air. The choice to use an aircraft of this size for a flight that is usually made with Airbus 320s of just over 180 passengers had to be celebrated.

While LH staff handed out ice cream and sunglasses, strictly yellow, passengers were intent on taking selfies and shooting videos to capture this first time.

Personally, I had flown on a B747 before, but never on the 800, which is the latest and largest in the family, of which Lufthansa is the main user and, fortunately, decided to continue using and not send it to the demolition as done by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, and many other.

Lufthansa also chose to use the 747/8 D-ABYT painted in the historic 1970s livery for this trip, the only one in the fleet with this outfit. The only downside of the day, if we want to find it, was the gloomy weather in the morning in Frankfurt that spoiled the photo frame.

Frankfurt/Palma de Mallorca flight in economy

As soon as they were on board, it took the captain to explain to the most distracted that they were not on the booked A320, but on the Queen of Skies.

The upgrade obviously brought with it the convenience and services of a jumbo instead of the traditional service for short- and medium-haul flights.

In fact, all chairs are equipped with a personal screen and IFE access, wi-fi connectivity and phone roaming, but most importantly, much, much more space than a traditional chair.

I had never experienced the Lufthansa-branded PE. and I must say that it does not rank among the best in the market.

The main flaw is that, not only is it in the same cabin as economy, but it is literally in the middle of economy: after the first cabin (in the nose of the plane) and the business rows, there are 3 rows of economy, then the bathrooms and then the 4 rows of premium economy configured with the classic 2-4-2.

The seat is comfortable, but you can see that it is of old design; it tilts generously but lacks the lower part of the seat that allows the legs to rest comfortably. Instead, a lowering support is present on the seat in front.

Being for all intents and purposes a short medium-haul economy flight, for the past several months, Star Alliance member carrier proposes a pay-as-you-go menu, and all that's free is water.

I ordered one of the new products, apple pie, and I must say it is very good. I so appreciate the decision of the airlines to eliminate tasteless dishes on short- and medium-haul flights by offering the opportunity for passengers to buy dishes, which are sought after and of excellent quality at a fair price.

The star of this trip is always her, the queen of the skies. The 747/800  of Lufthansa is configured with 4 cabins. First in the "nose" of the plane, the business in the front and upper deck with 32 seats, arranged in 8 rows of 2 seats each. The 16 PE seat and then the tourist class.

During the flight, which lasted less than 2 hours, passengers enjoyed IFE at 100% and wi-fi.

Honorable mention for the two cameras, one in front and one that captures what is happening under the belly of the plane, they may not be the prettiest, but there are carriers on far more modern planes that do not have this option.

On the track in Palma de Mallorca

When you land, you always hope to be parked in a gate directly connected to the fingers. Either the 747 was too big for this airport or they simply wanted to give passengers a chance to admire the Queen of skies up close as well. So the D-ABYT was parked away from everyone, so that it could be observed from every point of the Spanish airport and allowing passengers to photograph it as never before.

The only disappointment was the lack of water cannon, the traditional salute that airport vehicles pay to an aircraft, or an airline, completing a route for the first time. Certainly it was not the first LH flight from Frankfurt, but definitely the first 747/800 to land for a scheduled flight at this airport.

At the airport in Majorca

My stay in the Mallorca stopover lasted less than an hour, just long enough to pop into the only open lounge, have a drink, and run to the opposite side of the stopover to rejoin the boarding process.

On both flights I enjoyed priority boarding because of my Gold Star Alliance status, thanks to my TAP card. A card that, barring last-minute surprises, will expire in two weeks.

Business Flight Palma de Mallorca/Frankfurt

The bus took us under the stairs of the Jumbo again, and seeing it like this in the midst of all these normed planes makes quite an impression, not only on the passengers since even the ground staff are just taking pictures all the time.

The arrival, the ladder, the plane virtually empty. A quick trip around the first class cabin to take a couple of pictures and then off, up the ladder and into the seat.

When I was a kid for me the 747 was the symbol of travel, then I fell in love with the A380 and its space, but it has to be said the jumbo made in Boeing has a charm all its own.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a tour of the cockpit, which is also huge compared to today's modern aircraft cockpits. I was also able to chat with the pilots and found that they, like me, were surprised that they had not received the water cannon.

Onboard service is classic Lufthansa business service, a solid product in all respects. Although, it must be said, the cabin configuration of 2-2 on the upper deck and 2-2-2 on the main deck is not the best.

This type of setup does not allow passengers traveling near the windows to be able to stand up freely without having to disturb/escape their neighbor.

There is plenty of space, starting with the compartments that run along both sides of the cabin and double what you have in the overhead compartments.

Space that can also be used to lay down computers and other items during flight.

To be top I would have appreciated the distribution of the beauty kit, but perhaps for such a flight it is too much. Also the in-flight service is the classic, but always perfect, service of the LH-branded short/medium haul.

The seat becomes a bed, it lacks the little amenities found on more modern planes such as a massage function, and privacy is not the best, but aboard one of the few 747/800s around, these are details that fade into the background when you look out the window and see two, of the 4, gigantic engines that propel this plane.

On board the chair offers everything expected.

In the armrest that contains the coffee table are headphones, not the best at noise cancellation, and a small space to store the cell phone also equipped with a USB socket for charging.

The IFE's swiveling screen is not the top in brightness and brilliance, the touch is fast but the offering is nowhere near the systems offered by competitors, live TV channels are missing, and the controller is very 90s.

In conclusion

This is not one of our classic reviews; it is more the account of a unique experience. Over the past few months we have told of journeys to nowhere, of A380s turned into restaurants e 747 that have become key chains. Today's trip is a scheduled flight, so the use of a 747 over these distances is stuff that had only been seen in Japan, but never in Europe.

• B747