With my wife Monique, we had flown numerous times with various versions of the famous Boeing 747. The 747’s first flight took place in 1969, and production only stopped in 2023, and we had flown in this iconic aircraft to Japan, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and numerous times to the US, including twice to Hawaii. Our last flight on a Boeing 747 was a return flight with BA London–Los Angeles-London in 2012. Our more recent long-haul flights were on the A380 and B777.
My beloved wife passed away at 17:00 on 23 December 2023, and so this would be a solo trip Frankfurt–Buenos Aires on a stretched 747-8 (the finally production series) originally launched in 2005. Its fuselage had been stretched by 5.5 m to 76 m, making it the longest airliner until the 777X (76.7 m), which first flew in 2020 (the A380 is 72.72 me long).
The route
I had flown in from my home base, and we were bussed from our parking stand to Frankfurt Terminal 1B. Luckily the departure gate was B28, and there was a Lufthansa Business Lounge very nearby (the Lufthansa Business Lounge B-West in the Non-Schengen zone). This did mean going from the Schengen zone (gates B1 to B19) to the non-Schengen gates (B20 to B63). But this was painless with the biometric passport and automated gates.
Departure was scheduled for 22:05, but it was indicated that it would leave early at 21:55. Scheduled arrival in Buenos Aires was the next morning at 07:55. In reality we departed at 22:44 (39 minutes late), and arrived 08.37 (42 minutes late). Flight time 13 hours 53 minutes.
The idea that the flight would leave early was ludicrous, because this flight never leaves early, and only leaves 57% on time. In fact the average delay is 35 min. +/-105 min. (maximum delay 706 min.).
Routes can change slightly, but this time we few (back) over Luxembourg, passed over Mont-l’Évêque before flying north of Paris, north of Le Mans, south of Nantes before leaving France by flying over Notre Dame-de-Monts and the Île d’Yeu.
We then flew directly towards the north-western corner of Spain. We entered Spain between Rinlo and Ribadeo, and left Spain near Oia (so just south of Vigo).
The route to South America took us west of the Madeira archipelago, and the ten volcanic islands of Republic of Cabo Verde.
We entered South America flying across Tatajuba in the Brazilian state of Ceará, avoiding Paraguay, but by necessity flying over Uruguay before landing in Buenos Aires.
The aircraft
My aircraft was a Boeing 747-830 (Type Code B748), model 3C4B2E, registered D-ABYT.
It had arrived as LH-755 from Bengaluru (BLR), landing in Frankfurt at 11:07. Over the last 7 days it had also flown return routes to Johannesburg, San Francisco (twice), and Mexico City.
D-ABYT is an example of the 747-8, of which Lufthansa has 19 (and 8 Boeing 747-400). The B747-8 usually sits 8 in First Class, 80 in Business, 32 in Premium Economy and 244 in Economy (total 364 seats).
It was a coincidence that my return flight Buenos Aires-Frankfurt was on the same exact aircraft (see report of First Class return flight).
Boarding
Waiting to board at gate B28 was quite “messy”. There was no free seating. There was also a woman lying on the floor, surrounded by Lufthansa and airport staff, and police. She was complaining in Spanish and didn’t want to talk to the German staff. Finally someone from Lufthansa came, spoke Spanish, and she calmed down. She was travelling with an older woman and two small children, and managed to get priority boarding. This was pointless since passengers with children were automatically given priority boarding. And more strangely, as she walked past me onboard she spoke to her children in German.
Boarding started with priority 1 (first class), then priority 2 (business class). I was one of the first to board, and find my seat 10D.
First impressions
Business Class on Lufthansa’s 747-800 is divided into three parts, two areas on the main deck, and one area on the upper deck.
The main deck has two areas, a 36-seat forward cabin and a 12-seat aft cabin, separated by a galley. My seat, 10D, was in the first row in the aft cabin. The configuration in the upper deck is slightly different. Whilst rows in the main deck consists of seating 2-2-2 configuration, in the upper deck there are 32-seats in a 2-2 configuration. Many people complain about these configurations because some passengers must “climb over” another passenger to access the aisles. This is not the case for those sitting in the center of the 2-2-2 configuration. It is said that the upper deck’s design offers a cosier atmosphere, and the seats are often the first to be reserved.
Above we can see the overall impression of the Business Class seats. My seat was in the aft cabin just in front of the galley (as seen below).
I was travelling with a smallish backpack and there was a massive amount of space available in the overhead locker.
The pairs of Business Class seats are slightly angled toward each other, and are often called the “honeymoon” configuration. This is fine for couples travelling together, but given that there is also no privacy dividers between paired seats, it can be a little tricky for solo travellers. I, and the person sitting next to me, did not have a particular problem with this configuration.
Initially in the footwell was a topper-style mattress rolled-up in a bag, and there was in the seat a medium-sized, soft pillow with a fabric cover, and a folded and wrapped blanket big enough to cover the entire bed. Below we can see the topper in place, before the seat is put into a lie-flat position.
Each Business Class seat has a pitch of approximately 160 cm and a width of about 52 cm. When fully reclined, the seat transforms into a flatbed measuring 198 cm in length.
For comparison the First Class seat pitch is around 210 cm, the width 78 cm, and is around 205 cm in length as a lie-flat. The premium economy seat pitch is 97 cm, width 48 cm, and seats only recline. The economy seat pitch is 79 cm, width 43 cm, and can only be partially reclined. The premium economy seats recline deeper than the economy seats, and they have more legroom and a leg-foot rest.
In a very simplistic comparison the space occupied by four First Class seats is about the same as that occupied by 14 economy seats.
The amenity kit in Business Class included a simple but good quality “elite models” zip pouch containing a good quality pair of socks, a toothbrush with toothpaste (same as in First Class but without the packaging), eye masks (slightly lower quality than in First Class), ear plugs in paper packaging, 2 small fresh peppermint sweets, and two cosmeceuticals, a lip balm and a hand gel from L’Occitane.
As a point of comparison the First Class amenity kit included a very pleasantly tactile small wooden shoe horn, a folding plastic hair brush, a pair of socks, covers for the headphones, a toothbrush kit, eye masks, ear plugs in a small white plastic container, 2 small fresh peppermint sweets, and two cosmeceuticals, a face cream and a moisturiser from Augustinus Bader. Along with the toothbrush came a small plastic tube of fresh mint toothpaste, and bamboo interdental brush and plant-based floss pick.
Settling in
Frankly I don’t remember much about the welcome onboard, but I do remember the flight attendants coming round with small moist hand towels (I think they were hot), and offering a tray of drinks. I took an orange juice. They also handed out a little bag of nuts with “Your welcome moment” on the seal.
There would have been a pre-flight safety demonstration, but it was not particularly memorable.
Again take-off went in a totally unmemorable blur.
Between the pairs of seats there is an armrest. As seen above it is home to the seats’ lie-flat commands. Part of the armrest can be opened, creating a very modest screen between the two seats, but then the lie-flat commands are inaccessible.
As seen above, hidden in the central armrest there is a pair of noise-cancellation headphones, the tethered command unit for the in-flight entertainment system, and a foldable tray table. I’m not sure about any charge sockets, and, but I think there must be a universal power outlet and a USB charge port somewhere (I suppose it depends on seat configuration). I made the mistake on this trip not to change my iPhone.
Dinner
As we all settled in, the flight attendants distributed menus and later collected preferences for the main course.
I started with Champagne, the usual Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut, with the appetiser. I took the cold-smoked salmon fillet with mole spice, basil-apple Cream, marinated kohlrabi and pickled radish, a salad and multi-grain bread. I didn’t know that mole spice was a traditional Mexican sauce, but in any case I didn’t like this appetiser because the salmon was very heavily smoked, and had lost all its natural flavour.
For the main course I took the sous-vide cooked beef brisket with fried Brussels sprout accompanied by beetroot and horseradish purée.
Despite looking like a culinary disaster sitting on the plate, it actually tasted quite good.
I finished with an expresso and a chocolate hazelnut cake with blueberry and raspberry ragout, and almond cream. The ragout bit just sounded strange, but it was edible, just about.
In-flight entertainment
Lufthansa’s in-flight entertainment (IFE) on its Boeing 747-800 fleet is not very good. It has aged badly. The screen is too small, too far away, and has a poor resolution. It’s not a touch screen, and everything must be selected on the tethered handset in the armrest. The interface is more than just a little slow, it’s really clunky, and not very well designed.
I think the screens were 15″ and appeared dim and prone to glare. I understand that First Class has 17″ screens, but with the same kind of problems.
There appeared to be a lot of content available, but it all looked a bit old. It didn’t help that I had to lean forward and squint to read the menus, options, and descriptions.
I ended up watched (again) Blade Runner 2049 and Dune: Part Two. Luckily, both films amply merited to be seen again, and in particular I understood better the new Blade Runner this second time around.
Sleep
Above.we have an example of the Business Class lie-flat bed. Unlike in First Class, passengers have to make their own bed. I just bedded down after watching the two films. I got about 4-hours of sleep, which is not bad.
Breakfast
For breakfast I went for the pancake filled with mushrooms, a tomato coulis and spicy spinach, creamy yogurt with berries and granola, and some bread and croissants with butter and honey. Again it tasted better than it looked. Three cappuccinos helped.
Landing at Buonas Aires
Landing was fine, although we arrived late. See my report on the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires.
