Intro
Back in July, I had the pleasure to meet almost 20 A.netters at Frankfurt Airport. All those who had been planning to write a report have already done so - except for me. Since reports about ordinary short hops on Lufthansa, easyJet and Air France can be found quite often on the forum, I decided to focus on the LAN Airlines A340-300 flight from Frankfurt to Madrid. If you want to see pictures from the outstanding meeting itself as well as many spotting pictures and if want to read about other participants' journeys, have a look at these nice reports:
Background
It was in late April when users LH4532 and Luxair747SP first suggested to organize a meeting at FRA in July. As soon as it had been certain that I would be able to join the meeting, I started searching for interesting flight options. I had been wanting to fly between Frankfurt and Madrid on LAN's A340-300 for several years and now I finally saw a good opportunity to do so. A FRA-MAD one-way flight was more expensive than a roundtrip, but I didn't have a choice due to time restrictions. Lufthansa flights from Nuremberg or Munich to Frankfurt were available at relatively low fares, but it was impossible to find a reasonably priced connection between Madrid and Munich or Nuremberg. After searching for a long time, I decided to combine NUE-FRA (Lufthansa A320) and FRA-MAD (LAN) with a Madrid-Paris flight on easyJet (A319) and a Paris-Nuremberg flight on Regional (Embraer 170). Air France wanted more than 500 Euro for the CDG-NUE flight, but I booked it for 10,000 Flying Blue miles plus tax. Some weeks later, we decided to invite many more users and I posted a thread about the meeting on the forum. It was clear soon that it would become a big meeting.
NUE-FRA and A.net Meeting
Lufthansa's A320-200 D-AIZG operated my flight LH147 from Nuremberg to Frankfurt on 9th July. Originally, I had wanted to join the meeting in the morning, but fares had suddenly jumped up, so I had booked the lunchtime flight. Apart from a slightly bumpy approach and the fact that the plane was equipped with the nice new NEK interior, the 34 minute flight was uneventful.
Can you see any A.netters? Probably a pink shirt or a hat? They are there somewhere:
User SPLTA had contacted me some time in advance and pointed out that he would arrive almost at the same time on a Lufthansa flight from Dusseldorf. He had asked me to wait for him before heading to the meeting point at Terminal 2 and I had certainly agreed. However, when my plane arrived at the gate, SPLTA sent me a message and informed me that his plane was still on the ground at DUS and about to depart soon. I told him that I would wait nevertheless - actually I could use the remaining time to have lunch. Then I informed LH4532 about our delayed arrival and I found out that Luxair747SP and his brother had to leave early. So we agreed to meet for a short chat in the Terminal 1B arrivals hall.
SPLTA finally showed up and we took the Skytrain to Terminal 2. Then we had the pleasure to shake hands with Akhmad, Airbuseric, CaptainRed, Contact Air, CrimsonNL, Eco, FLIEGER67, FlyingFinn76, IberiaA319, LH4532, Luftfahrer, LXM83, Makeree, MD11Bob, MSS658 and SloAir who were all hanging around at a restaurant after having lunch. It was definitely a great experience to meet all these people for the first time. Some time later we went to the observation deck - FLIEGER67 had even negotiated a group discount. The next few hours passed quickly - there was so much to talk about. Unfortunately, time wasn't enough to talk to each participant comprehensively. In the late afternoon it was time to say goodbye and the participants left in all directions.
Saturday, 9th July 2011
Frankfurt (FRA) - Madrid (MAD)
LAN Airlines LA705
Scheduled times: 19:40-22:25
Actual times: 19:50-22:39
Flight duration: 02:28 (hrs)
Distance: 882 miles
Economy Class, seat 38A
Airbus A340-313X
CC-CQC (MSN 363)
Delivered in 10/2000
IberiaA319 and I had already checked in online, so we could go straight to security. We didn't have to wait very long until it was our turn. A friendly screener asked me whether I had a laptop in my bag and other stuff in my pockets. I denied and told him that I had already placed my liquids in a box and removed all items from my pockets. "Ah, you know what's going on", he said and jokingly added: "If it doesn't beep we'll know that you really are an experienced traveller." Well, it didn't beep - other than at Nuremberg, btw. The screener and I were satisfied and we said goodbye. I haven't passed through T2 at Frankfurt very often - but once again I had met cool staff at security there.
Numerous people were already waiting in the gate area. As we had already found out on a flight operations screen earlier, LAN had sent CC-CQC to Frankfurt today:
The plane made its first flight in September 2000 and was delivered to LAN five weeks later:
I was really relieved about seeing the plane being prepared for the flight as planned - volcanic actions had again and again disrupted air traffic in Chile in the weeks prior to my travel date and I had been hoping all the time that my flight wouldn't be affected.
Numerous magazines were available in the gate area, but I would have preferred certain newspapers. Friendly flight attendants welcomed us on board and we soon realized that the cabin would be packed:
LAN chose different pleasant seat colors - this is IberiaA319's seat (37A)...
...and here's mine (38A):
The 18 inch wide seats are comfortable and the 32 inch pitch is sufficient even for longer flights. Small IFE boxes don't take away much space:
Some nice places were shown on the 8.9-inch high-definition screens during boarding:
While cup holders are installed next to the screens, the handsets are stored in the armrests:
Headphones:
In-flight magazine...
...with fleet information:
After boarding had been completed, I didn't see any empty seats. While IberiaA319 had the pleasure to be seated next to a young and talkative Chilean lady, my seat neighbor turned out to be a German in the 30s who was apparently wondering why I kept taking pictures of everything.
The recorded German announcements sounded quite impersonal, but that's a minor issue. According to an English announcement, we would be in the air for 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Parked next to us was JAL 777-300ER JA736J - those planes must look horrible in "new" colors:
We left the gate 10 minutes late and soon started taxiing to runway 18. Airbuseric who was waiting for his Lufthansa flight to Amsterdam took a nice picture of our plane:
Picture by Airbuseric
Almost there:
Southern Air 777F also taxiing to runway 18:
CC-CQC turned in, started its takeoff roll - and lifted off relatively quickly. IberiaA319 noticed that, too.
Climbout into dark skies:
Of course I followed our departure route on the screen:
Then I had a closer look at the IFE options. LAN's audio/video-on demand system offers a choice of almost 50 movies, roughly 90 TV features, hundreds of CDs and 20 games - definitely enough for long flights. Main menu:
However, as usual, I watched the airshow most of the time:
Thick clouds over the French-Swiss border region:
Pretty snack boxes were handed out 40 minutes after takeoff...
...containing simple ham and cheese sandwiches and a chocolate bar. The sandwiches were quite good, they tasted better than they looked:
I skipped the "PlaneHunter Ginger Ale Test" this time and ordered a Chilean beer - which was chilled and quite tasty:
Less than an hour to go:
I would have preferred to stay a bit longer on that nice plane - however, I wouldn't have wanted to fly all the way down to Santiago. At least not on that day.
Thick clouds prevented any views of the Pyrenees:
How about mood lighting, LAN?
After returning to my seat, I enjoyed a beautiful sunset...
...colors and light effects were amazing:
Due to traffic congestion, we had to spend more than 10 minutes in a holding pattern and finally touched down after a flying time of 2 hours and 28 minutes. We came to stop at our Terminal 4 gate 14 minutes late, next to LAN 767-300ER CC-CXK:
It was my pleasure, LAN:
Unfortunately, due to the location of our gate, we had to pass passport control - and there weren't many officers left at that time. So we were stuck in a long queue for about 20 minutes. On the way to the exit, IberiaA319 called my hotel, the Hostal T4 in Paracuellos del Jarama, and ordered the shuttle. When we walked outside, the bus was already waiting which was very nice. Then it was time to say goodbye - it had been a pleasure to travel to Madrid with IberiaA319! The hotel itself was fine - the room was clean and the staff members were nice, but the location is bad for all those who don't just need a room in between two flights.
On the next morning I flew MAD-CDG on easyJet A319 G-EZAU and CDG-NUE on Regional Embraer 170 F-HBXJ (my 120th carrier, btw). I had a few hours in between these flights, but all those with tight connections may face big trouble when they have to pass through Terminal 2G where many regional flights arrive and depart from. That building is located about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) away from the terminals 2A-2F and a bus ride is required in any case.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed flying LAN's A340 between Frankfurt and Madrid - and I could easily imagine choosing that airline for a long-haul trip to South America. Comfortable seats, sufficient legroom, great IFE, nice flight attendants - what more can you ask for?
Meeting all these A.netters at Frankfurt was a great pleasure and I would like to see each participant again soon. Unfortunately, it's very unlikely that I will be able to take part in the next meeting at Stockholm on 14th and 15th January. However, I'll try my best to join the meeting at the opening of Berlin's new airport on 3rd June.
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1614 posts, RR: 42 Reply 1, posted (1 year 6 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 10136 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW CHAT OPERATOR
Hey PH Thanks for sharing. It was a good day and it was nice meeting you and the other Anetters at FRA. I'm actually looking into logging the LA 343 myself sometime soon.
deltamartin From Sweden, joined Dec 2010, 1059 posts, RR: 9 Reply 3, posted (1 year 6 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 10100 times:
Hi PH!
For sure another great report of yours!
Some of your pictures are really nice, such as the sunset ones!
Must have been fun meeting all those A.netters, I'll be attending to the ARN meet myself.
Always nice to fly a longhaul widebody aircraft on such a short flight, I've been considering trying this one too.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 2): Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 1): I'm actually looking into logging the LA 343 myself sometime soon.
I guess it's just a matter of time until all of us have done so!
You can say that again!
Thanks for sharing, looking forward to reading your next series.
LH4532 From Germany, joined Sep 2011, 78 posts, RR: 12 Reply 7, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 9803 times:
Hello PlaneHunter ,
For me it has been worth the time waiting for this Trip Report . It was great meeting you in person the very first time , although we did not have the chance talking that much .
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): It was in late April when users LH4532 and Luxair747SP first suggested to organize a meeting at FRA in July.
I still remember the planning .
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Some weeks later, we decided to invite many more users and I posted a thread about the meeting on the forum.
I could not live qithout OLCI . It´s an awesome way for travelling .
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): While IberiaA319 had the pleasure to be seated next to a young and talkative Chilean lady,
Always great sitting next to kind and friendly people .
I have enjoyed reading your Trip Report . The pictures you have taken are very nice and clear . It is worth it that you put such a huge amount of effort into your TR´s . Please keep up your good work .
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6182 posts, RR: 79 Reply 8, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 9780 times:
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 7): For me it has been worth the time waiting for this Trip Report .
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 7): I have enjoyed reading your Trip Report . The pictures you have taken are very nice and clear . It is worth it that you put such a huge amount of effort into your TR´s . Please keep up your good work .
Hi Daniel, many thanks for your kind words! I'm glad you liked it.
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 7): It was great meeting you in person the very first time , although we did not have the chance talking that much .
I can only agree. But we had more time in August.
Quoting LH4532 (Reply 7): It´s an awesome way for travelling .
sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1173 posts, RR: 29 Reply 9, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 9442 times:
Hello PH,
I’m glad to read you had an excellent journey on LAN’s A340 after a nice day with some a.netters at FRA. No views of lions or wildebeest this time, but hey, this is Europe and not South Africa Great view on the setting sun. I as well will hopefully someday sample this popular 5th freedom flight, it seems really worth it!
volvair From Germany, joined Oct 2011, 167 posts, RR: 10 Reply 10, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 9435 times:
Hi PH,
nice little report of yours. LAN really seems to be one of the better options for Europe-South America. I also looked into this flight for my journey down to Bolivia, changing to a 767 to LIM at MAD, but fares were not affordable unless I would have went for an Iberia flight on the return journey.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6182 posts, RR: 79 Reply 11, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 9407 times:
Quoting sultanils (Reply 9): I’m glad to read you had an excellent journey on LAN’s A340 after a nice day with some a.netters at FRA.
Hi Nils, thanks for your comments! Yes, it was a very pleasant flight after a great meeting.
Quoting sultanils (Reply 9): No views of lions or wildebeest this time, but hey, this is Europe and not South Africa
Quoting sultanils (Reply 9): I as well will hopefully someday sample this popular 5th freedom flight, it seems really worth it!
Absolutely!
Quoting sultanils (Reply 9): You’re sure it was Flieger67 himself that time? You know he does some uitsourcing nowadays to some weird people by the name of Mr S and Mr C
Quoting volvair (Reply 10): LAN really seems to be one of the better options for Europe-South America. I also looked into this flight for my journey down to Bolivia, changing to a 767 to LIM at MAD, but fares were not affordable unless I would have went for an Iberia flight on the return journey.
IB? No thanks! You found a great alternative!
Quoting volvair (Reply 10): Yes, it almost always beeps at NUE. Maybe a measure of keeping the security staff busy
Interesting - I mostly fly from MUC, so I don't know much about security at NUE.
Quoting volvair (Reply 10):
Yes, one of the 5th freedom perks is an individual monitor with airshow on intra-Europe flights.
It's time for the European carriers to follow certain Asian carriers' examples...I recently enjoyed PTVs on Garuda and Jet Airways 737s.
Quoting volvair (Reply 10): Thank you very much for sharing. Looking forward to your next reports, especially the PrivatAir flight!
Luxair747SP From Germany, joined May 2010, 444 posts, RR: 18 Reply 12, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 9306 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW FORUM MODERATOR
Hi PH,
great report about the A340.
Most of the reports about that flight are in the opposite direction, so it was nice to see that they have the same service also on that leg.
It was for sure a nice meeting and I had a great time at FRA.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6182 posts, RR: 79 Reply 13, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 9282 times:
Quoting Luxair747SP (Reply 12): great report about the A340.
Most of the reports about that flight are in the opposite direction, so it was nice to see that they have the same service also on that leg.
Hi Johannes, thanks for your feedback!
Quoting Luxair747SP (Reply 12): It was for sure a nice meeting and I had a great time at FRA.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): my seat neighbor turned out to be a German in the 30s who was apparently wondering why I kept taking pictures of everything.
It's not worth bothering him. You got the window seat and that mattered.
- These LAN flights do seem to be based on the TR's posted here.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Airbuseric who was waiting for his Lufthansa flight to Amsterdam took a nice picture of our plane:
- Top man! - I do love the LAN livery, very classy IMO.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Pretty snack boxes were handed out 40 minutes after takeoff...
- Great looking box.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): ...containing simple ham and cheese sandwiches and a chocolate bar. The sandwiches were quite good, they tasted better than they looked:
- Good job, the sandwich looks pretty naff.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): I skipped the "PlaneHunter Ginger Ale Test" this time and ordered a Chilean beer
- Well done!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Thread starter): Unfortunately, it's very unlikely that I will be able to take part in the next meeting at Stockholm on 14th and 15th January
- That's a shame, I'm actually able to make this one.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6182 posts, RR: 79 Reply 16, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 9036 times:
Quoting akhmad (Reply 14): Finally! I have been waiting for this report for so long. Well, to be honest, I am always waiting for your exciting reports to come.
Hi Suryo, thanks a lot for your comments!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 14): Oh yes, up close and personal!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 14): You got the window seat and that mattered.
So true!
Quoting akhmad (Reply 14): Well done, LA, to have a Chilean beer on offer instead of dull Heineken!
Yes, I was really glad about that considering that the plane was already heading home again.
Palmjet From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2001, 1050 posts, RR: 20 Reply 20, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 8846 times:
Hi PH
Nice report and looks like a really nice 340 intra europe experience on the LAN. Despite the bagging that the A340-300 gets, it's still a nice looking aircraft. Looks super in LAN's colours, which I think are quite distinct.
Seats and onboard experience looks good as well. I'd much rather fly LAN 340 in Europe than an IB one - that's for sure!
Also great that you got to meet "the gang" at FRA. I am looking forward to ARN in Jan very much, despite the fact that it's going to be freezing. Sorry to miss you there.
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2202 posts, RR: 14 Reply 21, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 8778 times:
Hi PH
I was waiting for this report! Thanks for sharing it with us . It was a pleasure meeting you as well in FRA, I still have quite a lot of good memories of that day. Too bad we are different about the ARN and BER meet! While ARN is set for me, while chances for BER are very low , but there will be more oppertunities to come.
LAN seems to have a nice product. comfortable seating, nice colors, decent IFE... the MAD-FRA or MAD-CDG flight are definitely on my to-fly list.
AlwaysOnAPlane From United Kingdom, joined Sep 2010, 299 posts, RR: 3 Reply 22, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 8736 times:
Hello PH.
Really interesting report for this widebody Euro hop.
I'm still a little mad to miss the FRA meeting, but other commitments you know? A shame it's not looking possible to meet you at ARN either.. Lets see what happens with Berlin?
Nice looking cabin and good seating with all the modern gadgets for those longer sectors.
Yes, those sandwiches look a bit plain, but good to hear they were tasty, and you can't beat a Kit-Kat
It's a shame the Pyrenees were obscured by cloud, always impressive viewing. The nice sunset was something to make that a little better.
Thanks for your side of the story PH, all the best.
Cheers, Lee.
RvXKaz From Singapore, joined Apr 2011, 182 posts, RR: 3 Reply 24, posted (1 year 6 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 8611 times:
Hi PH,
Very nice to read about your experience with LAN. Its great to hear that you've enjoyed your LAN experience and the interior product looks superior indeed! What a treat it is to fly the A340 intra-Europe and with PTVs as well. The snack box looks really nice too!
Nice to see passenger loads are good on this 5th freedom flight, do you have any idea if most of the passengers were disembarking in Madrid or were they mainly headed for Santiago?
Anyway, as always, awesome report and as a fan of 5th freedom flights, I really enjoyed reading it!
Cheers,
RvXKaz
They say that I'm a dreamer. But I'd only Dreamt Skyward.
25 The777Man: Hi PlaneHunter ! Thanks for a nice report with nice pictures! Too bad I couldn't attend the meeting at FRA but will do my best to attend the one at BE
26 767747: Good report, PlaneHunter! What a fun gathering! Wish FRA wasn't so far away from MSP - Sometimes I feel the same; kind of funny for plane guys like ou
27 burj: Wow very cool! What a unique flight! The interior is pretty nifty too! Thanks for sharing!
28 aflyingkiwi: Hi PH, As always, a fantastic report with great pictures! I'll be flying on one of LAN's A343's early next year from SYD-AKL so this report is particu
29 PlaneHunter: Hi Markus, thanks for your reply! That was long overdue! Thanks for your comments, Palmjet! I can only agree! No doubt about that. Yes, I'm sure we'l
30 SCL767: Hello PlaneHunter, Great TR and thanks for sharing your experience on LAN with us. I'm glad that you had a good flight on LAN. LAN's daily service bet
31 flightsimboy: Plane Hunter, reading all these reports one after another is really making me think of you as a plane "Hunter" indeed. . All these exotic carriers, al
32 nipoel123: Hi PH, Another great trip report. I didn't expect this one, as all the other reports about the meet have been published already. The same over here! I
33 moosecamel88: Hi PH! What a wonderful TR on LAN! I enjoyed reading it! I really love your pictures, especially the one with the picture of machu picchu on the snack
34 ba319-131: - Not looked at that yet - I assume the new airport will have a viewing deck? Cheers Mark
35 PlaneHunter: Hola, SCL767, thanks a lot for your nice comments! Very interesting, thank for providing these pieces of information! I didn't know that. It will be
36 infodesk: Hi PH, Great idea of yours to choose such an exotic flight back after the FRA meet! Very fitting. Now, I wonder which A.netters you are reffering to t
37 eastafspot: Hello Udo this report represents the icing on the cake of this fantastic day, great pics and nice fifth freedom! IMHO it was probably not the best dea
39 717Flyer: Hi PH, There sure is something special in flying a widebody on such a short flight. And your report reflected this very well. Some very nice views and
40 CaptainRed: Hi PH, I was looking forward to this report and now I almost missed it. Enjoyed reading it especially since I have done that same FRA-MAD flight with
41 PlaneHunter: Hi 717Flyer, many thanks for your comments! I'm glad you enjoyed reading. I'm sure we'll find an opportunity to meet in the near future. Nice! Well,
42 IberiaA319: Thanks a lot for this fantastic report, it was nice reading it as it was the same flight I took but from your view. Also you took some excellent pictu
43 abrelosojos: Thanks for the report PH. Glad you enjoyed LA on this short hop. Final of the series from A.Net - do I guess. = You're still lucky. This flight causes
44 FlyingFinn76: Hi PH, Good to read your view of that nice Saturday we spent at FRA airport! It was good meeting you and the other guys, too bad there wasn't that muc
45 PlaneHunter: Many thanks for your comments, Eric! I can only agree. Maybe we can meet again next year. Hi A., thanks for replying! That's what I guess, too. Inter
46 SloAir: Hi PH, great to read your report now, when the days are getting shorter and colder, so we could remember that great, sunny and warm day on top of FRA
47 Patagon: Nice trip report and picture, feels so good to see our carrier in such far destinations
48 ronerone: Hi PH, A great report on LAN's! Very glad to see the beautiful LAN A340 in Economy Class! Again, this airline has some really slick cabin interiors! H
49 PlaneHunter: Hi Blaž, many thanks for your feedback! It was indeed a great day. You really should! Nice to hear! Thanks for your reply, Patagon! Your carrier loo
50 Parton87: Hello PH! Thanks for the nice story with some good pictures. Cool flying on a South American airline on a intra-European flight. The A340 is a beautif
51 signol: Hi PlaneHunter, nice to see your report join the others of the FRA meet! Lan looks to be a very good airline, certainly a high choice for any possible
52 PlaneHunter: Hi signol, thanks for your comments! Yes, would be great to meet to you there! PH
53 Initious: Hi PH, Yet another wonderful report from you! LAN is a nice airline (I'd assume) and their livery is splendid on the A343, so good that you managed to
54 airbuseric: Hi PH, I feel sorry about posting my reply so late. Although that's in line with our life these days it seems. Posting late, replying late. Well, it's
55 PlaneHunter: Hi Daniel, many thanks for your reply! Good to see you posting again! Yes, the interior was very nice. They used to serve more! That's what I hope, t
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Thanks for sharing. It was a good day and it was nice meeting you and the other Anetters at FRA. I'm actually looking into logging the LA 343 myself sometime soon. 
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Sultanils
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, but there will be more oppertunities to come.
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