[Flight Report] Hong Kong - Frankfurt

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.


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.


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.





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











Downstairs, a section of the arrivals hall is used for incoming passengers to line up for their quarantine hotel bus.





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.











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'.





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.


More about the flight in the next part, or you can read the full report on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/lh797.htm