LH 797 Flight Report : Hong Kong - Frankfurt
23 June 2022

Omicron hit Hong Kong hard and deaths skyrocketed in the first part of 2022. By late March, case numbers started to drop from the peak and things looked more upbeat with the government announcing incoming residents only need to quarantine in a designated hotel for 7 days from 14. Hong Kong's borders have pretty much been shut to outsiders for the past 2 years, allowing traffic from mostly residents, frustrating the international business community that used Hong Kong as their regional base. The quarantine regime had also been loosened and tightened, with the worst being 21 days and even a ban for arrivals from a number of countries.
With the ban on UK arrivals dropping by April and a shorter hotel quarantine, I decided to book Lufthansa on a cheap roundtrip fare to the UK. At the time, they had not resumed their Frankfurt route since, like many other international airlines, they didn't want the hassle of having their crew deal with quarantine and consequences should they test positive in the city. Perhaps that was why their Economy fare was a relative bargain. I took a gamble and bet on them re-starting the route by summer.
Fully expecting more surprises in the lead-up to departure, I also booked a backup flight on Qatar just in case Lufthansa doesn't resume the route, but Qatar had also been embroiled in various flight bans since the Hong Kong government suspends a route for a week if more than 2 passengers test positive on arrival. So things are bound to get more interesting.
Also, with the war in Ukraine and airlines no longer using Russian airspace, I got a notification after booking that my flight time to Frankfurt would be extended, and they rebooked my onward connection to London one flight later. To my delight, Lufthansa would resume flying to Hong Kong in May. I ended up postponing but not cancelling my backup flight days before departure.
With Europe re-opening to the world, flying there was relatively easy. There are no requirements, just like before the pandemic. So I didn't need to get to the airport early, arriving just 2 hours prior to departure. There was a long line at the check-in counter, but it cleared fairly quickly and I was done in about half an hour.

With my suitcase off, I explored around the quiet terminal to capture Hong Kong's surreal reality. Insistence to keep a "dynamic zero" approach has killed the aviation and tourism industries. The flight board is a sad sight indeed.

Back during the normal days, plenty of flights would leave at this late hour for Europe and North America.

Otherwise, the departures hall had a sprinkle of crowds, with many groups bidding farewell to their friends and family leaving the city for good.

With most arriving passengers whisked to hotel quarantine, the arrivals hall was pretty much empty. Why even bother opening the restaurants?

Tonight, a few visitors were awaiting their quarantine bus at the segregated end of the hall.

After a tour of the airport's emptiness, I returned to find the check-in line has cleared so it was also time for me to head into security.

With so few people using the airport, security didn't take long with a minimal wait and I emerged to an empty but renovated food court soon after.

The shopping mall downstairs didn't fare any better, with many brand-name shops seemingly shut for good as their shelves were laid bare.

However, the rest of the terminal looked newer and brighter thanks to the renovations.

Boarding gates looked different with what looks like more dreadful gates to get onto the jet bridge.

Mainland China flights and other international flights have to use separate departure gates. I would depart from within the Orange zone tonight, and a checkpoint was installed with signs reminding you not to turn back. I'm not sure how effective this arrangement is to prevent cross-infection, since we all go through the same check-in, security and immigration screening.

A key reason why I picked Lufthansa is because they still fly the A340 and I quite like their seating arrangement. My window is only 1 person away from the aisle and I really dread those 3-4-3 seating planes like the 777 where I'd be trapped at the window for my long intercontinental flight.

My flight was already boarding and a small crowd gathered at the gate, a contrast to the rest of the building that was asleep for the night.

Many passengers were struggling to get the boarding machine to work. They have to unmask and look into the camera, which would recognize them somehow and allow them in. Through this process, you don't even need to scan your boarding pass. I was surprised how they got my biometric details even though I had not provided this to the airline, and boarding got slower because of this 'technological advancement'.
I settled into my window seat at the back of the plane. The check-in agent had advised it would be a full flight tonight.

The air-conditioning was not on throughout boarding and it got uncomfortably hot, which was not a surprise since it's 30C outside. It was an awful start to a 12 hour 55 minute trip to Frankfurt, and even as we powered up, the cold air didn't seem to flow through either.
It was a short taxi and we took off towards the west soon after.
Since it was well past midnight, I didn't want to fill up on the dinner before trying to sleep, but I was mindful the next meal would be quite some time later just before landing, which would be after lunch Hong Kong time. There was only 1 option available - a pasta with cheese.

Due to our flight avoiding Russian airspace, we had a southerly route, crossing into Myanmar and skirting the northern part of India. This section was a bit bumpy but nothing too bothersome as I emerged in and out of naps. When I opened the shade somewhere over Turkey, I spotted a beautiful sunrise starting.

Lufthansa's IFE is a bit simple and I didn't find a very great selection of movies and television shows compared to the Middle Eastern airlines or Cathay. I couldn't customize the flight map to the view I wanted and had to wait for it to loop to the right screen.

It did allow me to bookmark the shows I like in advance so I could run the playlist later.

I kept an eye on the window as the sun progressively rose. I wanted to see if I could spot Ukraine since we flew along the southern end of the Black Sea, but it was cloudy today. I could only see another plane pass us below.

Breakfast was served an hour before arrival. Again, there was no choice and I got a cold sandwich with cheese inside.

The crew were nice to proactively ask whether I wanted a water or juice to go with my tea.

We were given a large bottle of water each earlier on the flight.

With summer here, the sky was already bright so early in the morning.

I picked a right window hoping to capture Frankfurt's skyline on landing. The airport is actually very close to the city and I had fond memories of the view back in 2005 when I arrived from Geneva.

Unfortunately, the clouds got thicker and I ended up getting a very bad skyline shot just before touching down.

First impression was this airport is back to normal, with a wide range of airlines and a lot of aircraft movements.

We landed substantially earlier than scheduled, and I could theoretically even make it to the 8am London flight that I was originally booked on. Nevertheless, I took my time and let the other passengers filter out so I could capture a bit of the A340, a rare bird nowadays.

Although this is an old bird, they had fitted a standard-sized Premium Economy section with 1 less seat per row.

Their Business Class is quite dated and the window seat doesn't have direct aisle access, which is a decade behind the industry.

Welcome to Frankfurt.

I wasn't impressed with Lufthansa's offering. While the A340 was very interesting, it was an old plane with a forgettable IFE and food. Nevertheless, flying out of Hong Kong, once an international aviation hub, is quite frustrating and hard nowadays so I was happy I scored a cheap ticket. Frankfurt is a good airport to transit through and the next leg to London would be very short. However, with airspace over Russia no longer available, the journey time has gotten substantially longer and not too much different than back in the day when I used to transit in the Middle East. [ Next Part : Transiting in Frankfurt ]

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Omicron hit Hong Kong hard and deaths skyrocketed in the first part of 2022. By late March, case numbers started to drop from the peak and things looked more upbeat with the government announcing incoming residents only need to quarantine in a designated hotel for 7 days from 14. Hong Kong's borders have pretty much been shut to outsiders for the past 2 years, allowing traffic from mostly residents, frustrating the international business community that used Hong Kong as their regional base. The quarantine regime had also been loosened and tightened, with the worst being 21 days and even a ban for arrivals from a number of countries. With the ban on UK arrivals dropping by April and a shorter hotel quarantine, I decided to book Lufthansa on a cheap roundtrip fare to the UK. At the time, they had not resumed their Frankfurt route since, like many other international airlines, they didn't want the hassle of having their crew deal with quarantine and consequences should they test positive in the city. Perhaps that was why their Economy fare was a relative bargain. I took a gamble and bet on them re-starting the route by summer. Fully expecting more surprises in the lead-up to departure, I also booked a backup flight on Qatar just in case Lufthansa doesn't resume the route, but Qatar had also been embroiled in various flight bans since the Hong Kong government suspends a route for a week if more than 2 passengers test positive on arrival. So things are bound to get more interesting. Also, with the war in Ukraine and airlines no longer using Russian airspace, I got a notification after booking that my flight time to Frankfurt would be extended, and they rebooked my onward connection to London one flight later. To my delight, Lufthansa would resume flying to Hong Kong in May. I ended up postponing but not cancelling my backup flight days before departure. With Europe re-opening to the world, flying there was relatively easy. There are no requirements, just like before the pandemic. So I didn't need to get to the airport early, arriving just 2 hours prior to departure. There was a long line at the check-in counter, but it cleared fairly quickly and I was done in about half an hour. With my suitcase off, I explored around the quiet terminal to capture Hong Kong's surreal reality. Insistence to keep a "dynamic zero" approach has killed the aviation and tourism industries. The flight board is a sad sight indeed. Back during the normal days, plenty of flights would leave at this late hour for Europe and North America. Otherwise, the departures hall had a sprinkle of crowds, with many groups bidding farewell to their friends and family leaving the city for good.




With most arriving passengers whisked to hotel quarantine, the arrivals hall was pretty much empty. Why even bother opening the restaurants? Tonight, a few visitors were awaiting their quarantine bus at the segregated end of the hall. After a tour of the airport's emptiness, I returned to find the check-in line has cleared so it was also time for me to head into security. With so few people using the airport, security didn't take long with a minimal wait and I emerged to an empty but renovated food court soon after.



The shopping mall downstairs didn't fare any better, with many brand-name shops seemingly shut for good as their shelves were laid bare.



However, the rest of the terminal looked newer and brighter thanks to the renovations. Boarding gates looked different with what looks like more dreadful gates to get onto the jet bridge. Mainland China flights and other international flights have to use separate departure gates. I would depart from within the Orange zone tonight, and a checkpoint was installed with signs reminding you not to turn back. I'm not sure how effective this arrangement is to prevent cross-infection, since we all go through the same check-in, security and immigration screening.

A key reason why I picked Lufthansa is because they still fly the A340 and I quite like their seating arrangement. My window is only 1 person away from the aisle and I really dread those 3-4-3 seating planes like the 777 where I'd be trapped at the window for my long intercontinental flight. My flight was already boarding and a small crowd gathered at the gate, a contrast to the rest of the building that was asleep for the night. Many passengers were struggling to get the boarding machine to work. They have to unmask and look into the camera, which would recognize them somehow and allow them in. Through this process, you don't even need to scan your boarding pass. I was surprised how they got my biometric details even though I had not provided this to the airline, and boarding got slower because of this 'technological advancement'. I settled into my window seat at the back of the plane. The check-in agent had advised it would be a full flight tonight. The air-conditioning was not on throughout boarding and it got uncomfortably hot, which was not a surprise since it's 30C outside. It was an awful start to a 12 hour 55 minute trip to Frankfurt, and even as we powered up, the cold air didn't seem to flow through either. It was a short taxi and we took off towards the west soon after. Since it was well past midnight, I didn't want to fill up on the dinner before trying to sleep, but I was mindful the next meal would be quite some time later just before landing, which would be after lunch Hong Kong time. There was only 1 option available - a pasta with cheese. Due to our flight avoiding Russian airspace, we had a southerly route, crossing into Myanmar and skirting the northern part of India. This section was a bit bumpy but nothing too bothersome as I emerged in and out of naps. When I opened the shade somewhere over Turkey, I spotted a beautiful sunrise starting. Lufthansa's IFE is a bit simple and I didn't find a very great selection of movies and television shows compared to the Middle Eastern airlines or Cathay. I couldn't customize the flight map to the view I wanted and had to wait for it to loop to the right screen.


It did allow me to bookmark the shows I like in advance so I could run the playlist later. I kept an eye on the window as the sun progressively rose. I wanted to see if I could spot Ukraine since we flew along the southern end of the Black Sea, but it was cloudy today. I could only see another plane pass us below. Breakfast was served an hour before arrival. Again, there was no choice and I got a cold sandwich with cheese inside. The crew were nice to proactively ask whether I wanted a water or juice to go with my tea. We were given a large bottle of water each earlier on the flight. With summer here, the sky was already bright so early in the morning.


I picked a right window hoping to capture Frankfurt's skyline on landing. The airport is actually very close to the city and I had fond memories of the view back in 2005 when I arrived from Geneva.


Unfortunately, the clouds got thicker and I ended up getting a very bad skyline shot just before touching down. First impression was this airport is back to normal, with a wide range of airlines and a lot of aircraft movements. We landed substantially earlier than scheduled, and I could theoretically even make it to the 8am London flight that I was originally booked on. Nevertheless, I took my time and let the other passengers filter out so I could capture a bit of the A340, a rare bird nowadays. Although this is an old bird, they had fitted a standard-sized Premium Economy section with 1 less seat per row. Their Business Class is quite dated and the window seat doesn't have direct aisle access, which is a decade behind the industry. Welcome to Frankfurt. I wasn't impressed with Lufthansa's offering. While the A340 was very interesting, it was an old plane with a forgettable IFE and food. Nevertheless, flying out of Hong Kong, once an international aviation hub, is quite frustrating and hard nowadays so I was happy I scored a cheap ticket. Frankfurt is a good airport to transit through and the next leg to London would be very short. However, with airspace over Russia no longer available, the journey time has gotten substantially longer and not too much different than back in the day when I used to transit in the Middle East. [ Next Part : Transiting in Frankfurt ]

LH 797 Flight Report : Hong Kong - Frankfurt 23 June 2022

The shopping mall downstairs didn't fare any better, with many brand-name shops seemingly shut for good as their shelves were laid bare.

I picked a right window hoping to capture Frankfurt's skyline on landing. The airport is actually very close to the city and I had fond memories of the view back in 2005 when I arrived from Geneva.

LH 797 Flight Report : Hong Kong - Frankfurt
23 June 2022