Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport

The plane continued the flight to Phuket, but all passenger had to deboard as there was a crew change and the plane had to be cleaned. I left the plane this time as one of the last Business Class Passengers just before the flight attendants let the Economy Class Passengers go to the exits. We had gate A 44, so again a little walk to the West Hall, were I had to pass security and a temperature check before I could go upstairs to the departure level.

There I headed to the Red Carpet Club near Gate 60. I did not knew at this time, if I could use another lounge as Business Class flying FTL, but I knew this is the Lounge Lufthansa has marked as lounge for their Business Class passengers.I later learnt, that I could have used the Thai Lounge as well, which was close by.

There were also a member of the LH ground staff sitting at the desk who had a look at my ticket and asked if I would like to have a window seat instead of my aisle seat as the flight was not full in Business Class. I agreed and so she writes another Seat number on the boarding pass.

The Red Carpet Club is very nice, a large number of seats and a nice view to the northwest terminal and the tarmac as the lounge is open with a gallery to the concourse. A huge selection of international newspapers and magazines were available and also some finger food. The Beverage selection was normal, I choose a Soda Water and read some magazines, I do not get in Europe and just relaxed.

By the way, there was some passenger in the Lounge with stickers of United on their shirts. I have not seen this before; is this something (or someone) special ?

At high noon I left the lounge to have some views in the shops at the airport and arrived at Gate 41 at 12:15. Boarding had just started.

14. April 2004
HKG – FRA
[Hong Kong – Frankfurt
LH 739 (Lufthansa); Boeing 747 – 400
12:45 – 18:35 [12:45 – 18:30]
Business Class
Seat 11 K

I put my trolley in the overhead bin and my other piece of hand luggage under the seat in front of me. The seat beside me was occupied by another man, but the row in front of us remained empty. So I decided just after the call “boarding completed” was made to change in row 10 and occupied both seats. I took the window seat during take off, because I hoped to get some nice views on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the islands. As far as I could see, there were several new buildings on Hong Kong Island since my last visit and some places looked really different. In this moment, I decided to visit Hong Kong again in the near future.

Round about ten minutes after take off, hot towels were given and the beverage service started and I had a look in my menu, as the crew began to prepare the tables for lunch

Time for a look in Lufthansa's Menus for this flight to Frankfurt

The menu was served form a trolley, but on the other hand one got a real metal knife.

I started with Roasted Breast of Duck, which tasted very good. Again I choose a White Wine for lunch, this time the Chilean Chardonnay. I liked the refreshing acidity of this sort of wine, also on the ground I would have preferred a red one. The tenderloin beef, I had as Entrée was again a good choice, as it was excellent. For dessert, I choose the Apricot Lemon Almond Tart, which was small but very tasty, so I take another one, as the tea and coffee service started – and I think several other passengers did so as well.

After the service has finished I switched to the aisle seat as the passenger in front of me levelled his seat to sleep. I myself began do discover the seat. This was the old Business Class, so a manually operated seat similar to this of United. I get a very comfy position and again I liked the footrest of the seat. But the legroom was very small, so I think if Business is full, it could be worse.

The crew was very friendly and very relaxed; normally four flight attendants were serving the Business Class and they did a good job. In the first part of the cabin were during the flight juice, water and wine available, also coffee and tea.

The video and audio selection was normal, I watched some films and heard some music; but the most time I read some magazines and just relaxed.

The flight was in the first part very bumpy and several times the seat belt signs were switched on. But time passes by and round about 90 minutes – I am not quite sure about the exact time, as I did not make notices – prior to arrival the dinner service started after hot towels were offered to the passenger again. The tables were laid with tablecloth.

Another quick look into the menu

This time I choose the Grouper, which was very soft and tasted delicious, the Lemon Gras Skewer gave a touch to lemon to the fish and is was very good meal. I had the Chilean White Wine with the fish.

The crew prepared everything for landing, but did not notice, that the seat of some passengers were not in an upright position and the video screen still outside.

The rest of the flight was again uneventful. We landed a few minutes before scheduled time in Frankfurt. I was one of the first passengers who left the plane and headed for customs.

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