The airbus A340-600 used by this airline for its transatlantic flights is a mammoth flying machine, impressively big and long compared to other crafts, especially when, looking at it through the glass walls of the airport waiting room, and comparing it to the other planes parked nearby.
The airbus is equivalent to a 3 story building, and I can’t help wondering how this massive structure can be maneuvered so gently and be lifted off into the skies from such a small cockpit!
Watching the logistics of loading its cargo, catering services, baggage, and passengers is also a very interesting pastime while waiting to board. Even fully loaded, it runs quite silently and, most importantly for my taste, it offers more comfortable seats that the usual 767’s.
The Lufthansa service is, as always, impeccable, and the food very good. In this trip I enjoyed the cuisine of a known Italian woman chef from the Piedmont region. The chicken dish I chose even had the meat pre-cut, so that it was easier to handle it in the tight elbow space, although this time I was lucky to have a thin, petite woman as fellow passenger on the window side.
Due to the long holiday weekend, N.Y. JFK airport was packed. There were no vacant seats at all on our flight. Everything was handled with typical German precision, and we left the gate in perfect timing (on my watch, even 2 minutes ahead). The staff courtesy and efficiency handled all sorts of situations including accommodating a family traveling with a young man completely disabled. He was wheeled to the plane door, then 3 service men lifted him onto a smaller chair that could roll inside the narrow aisles of the cabin and finally they repeated the maneuver inside the plane to make sure he was comfortable in his assigned seat.
This was one of the smoothest transatlantic rides I’ve ever had, including the landing in Munich, where, this time the sun was shining and there was no fog.
When I booked this trip I’d asked for assistance due to my problematic knees, and I was not disappointed. In exiting the plane in Munich I found a uniformed young lady, who facilitated my movements via a special elevator, through the security check, and then drove me in no time to the next gate. When the time came to board the connecting flight to Tirana (usually a good 10 minutes bus ride to another corner of the airport) I was met by 2 young men, who also made me avoid the stairs, took me by special van directly to the plane, and even carried my hand luggage.
I must admit that I was not expecting a similar service when arriving in Tirana, but was pleasantly surprised. Local airport personnel took care of my hand luggage, thus facilitating my descent out of the plane, via the few, narrow steps and drove me in a special car (that also services as an ambulance) to the arrival terminal. Here I was given priority through passport control, and was whisked out with my ‘priority’ (so marked at departure) luggage to meet my friends in waiting.
Tirana skies and surrounding mountains were dark with clouds, threatening rain. The spring weather of last week turned back to cold, just like in NY, but in this Mediterranean climate one rarely experiences the worsening effect of wind.
BTW, from Munich southward the view of the European snow capped Alps was a fascinating sight.
One more note regarding an intriguing comparison of prices: in Munich a small cappuccino and a small bottle of water came to $11.90, while in Tirana the purchase of a few staples (6 eggs, 1 ½ liter of milk, 4 liters of bottled water, 4 pieces of fruit, 100 grams of butter, one whole round loaf of freshly sliced bread), at the neighborhood store amounted to $5.90!
In my apartment everything works; as you can see, I'm online, and, as I write, the sun is back shining splendidly!
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