Review of Lufthansa flight from Milan to Frankfurt in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone,
when Summer 2024 vacations approached I decided not to book anything in particular. I made this choice for two reasons: first of all prices were incontrolably high and second, but not less important, I wanted to spend my two weeks work-break in total relax
This choice had a result by the way: planning a trip for the following Spring.

Around September I realized I could merge Easter '25 vacations with Italian Liberation Day, respectively the 20th and the 2th April 2025. Four day-offs would result in ten days at home, giving space for a good vacation

At first I had two options:
1. A tour of the Pearl river's delta, visiting Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou
2. Azerbaijian with the option of a few days in Istanbul
The second option was on stage in case the first one resulted too expensive

Searching on the internet and asking a couple of people I realized the first option presented an issue: both Shenzhen and Guangzhou don't prove too interesting to be part of a porpouse trip
My father suggested me to try visiting Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, stopping over in Malacca for a night. Even if the plan was interesting and I've always wanted to visit Singapore (being an F1 fan too) I wasn't so sure leaving HK and Macau apart. Specifically, I made a 2-hour layoover in Hong Kong in 2019, while going to Vietnam, but due to ongoing protests it was not wise to organize a couple of days there.

After a brief check on prices for Singapore to HK/Macau flights, which proved quite cheap, I ended up with this itinerary:
19th to 22nd April in Singapore
22nd to 23rd April in Macau
23rd to 26th April in Hong Kong

Due to flights' scheduled I was supposed to leave Italy in the afternoon of 18th April and return home in the early hours of the 27th.

BOOKING OPTIONS

As I was deciding the three cities to visit I tried to understand which sequence was preferred in term of price and "logistic"
Even if the prices was almost the same arriving in HK and leaving from Singapore has more cons. The return in the early morning of Sunday would have meant one more night sleeping in Singapore and would have force me to wake up very early. Moreover, departing from Linate and arriving back to Malpensa would have been quite a trouble, having a car to park somewhere

All the solutions with that price all comprises Air India for the return, which a dear friend who spent one year going back and forth to New Dehli for work warmly invited to avoid

After a few days of researching I ended up with this solution wholly handled by Lufthansa Group
Leaving on Friday late afternoon would have give me enough time to go to MXP, while the 23:25 return flight would have gave me the entire day of Saturday to stay around HK 

LH-website confirmed the price for the solution found on SkyScanner
I was able to choose the Economy Basic fare, which came with a checked-luggage and a carry-on
The total price was 959 euros

On October 10th, after speaking to my manager, I booked the flights

Here's the detailed itinerary and the fare:

Regarding the Singapore to HK/Macau flight SkyScanner gave me no doubt: flying into Macau with Scoot presented the cheapest fare, around 100-150 euros. Much lower than any flight between Singapore and Hong Kong with CX or SQ, rated around 1.5x more

According to my itinial plans I chose this flight, in order to have time to go with calm to Changi Airport and visit the Jewel

Since the far came with carry-on baggage only I added a checked 20 kilos one for 30 euros. I also selected the seat in advance for 10 euros, bringing the total to 177 euros

The flights in total costed me 1136 euros

18th April 2025 - Milan-Malpensa (MXP) > Frankfurt (FRA) - Lufthansa LH 255 - Airbus A319
18th April 2025 - Frankfurt (FRA) > Singapore (SIN) - Lufthansa LH 778 - Boeing 747-8
22nd April 2025 - Singapore (SIN) > Macau (MFM) - Scoot TR 904 - Airbus A321neo
26th April 2025 - Hong Kong (HKG) > Zurich (ZRH) - Swiss International Air Lines LX 139 - Boeing 777-300ER
27th April 2025 - Zurich (ZRH) > Milan-Malpensa (MXP) - Swiss International Air Lines LX 1612 - Airbus A320

ROUTING

Some stats:
5th out of 9 flights of 2025 (as of May '25)
First time on MXP-FRA route

BEFORE THE FLIGHT

In mid-January I received an e-mail from Lufthansa with minor changes in the scheduled of the two long-haul flights
Moreover the FRA-SIN route saw a small plane change. Initially planned to be operated with a Boeing 747-8 it was changed to a 747-400. Even if in general I was very happy to flight on the Jumbo Jet, I really would have tried the -8 version, having already ride the -400 one on an Air China SHA-PEK service in 2017
Better than nothing, also considering in the next years it will be more and more difficult to fly the Queen of the Skies

36 hours prior to the departure Lufthansa opened the web check-in 
Their mobile app is really useful and user friendly, making the entire procedure quite quick
I was lucky in the automatic seat assignment, getting an emergency exit seat on MXP-FRA route and window seats on both legs

At first I had 36K assigned, in the first economy class cabin
By the way, checking on AeroLopa website, I decided to get one in the rear cabin. The reason is a bit childish, but functional to this report: 36K is on the wing, meaning less sight to the ground to take good pics XD

As I was generating the boarding pass I was able to register my ITA Airways miles
This was possible since a few weeks, after AZ's acquisition by LH was made official

MALPENSA AIRPORT

The day before departure I left San Pellegrino and drove almost two hours to reach Somma Lombardo, a small town located 2-km north of Malpensa Airport. The car ride lasted almost two hours and 110 km
There a friend of mine hosted me for a night and offered to drive me to the airport the day after, keeping my car in her garage.

Her house is located just below the take-off pathway 

With the flight departing at 18:50 we left home around 16:30, heading to Terminal 1
The Terminal hosts every airline except for easyJet, which has its home at Terminal 2

15 minutes after she dropped me off at Milan-Malpensa "Silvio Berlusconi" International Airport
The dedication to the media tycoon and former Prime Minister came after his death in June 2023 and brought some controversies

The check-in hall was quite crowded, being the Easter's weekend 
Many people in Italy had my idea to merge national festivities with some days off

My flight, codeshared with ITA Airways

Lufthansa Group occupies the entire check-in row
The queue was big and most passengers, looking at their baggage, were connecting

30 minutes after I got at the counter
The lady confirmed my seats, labelled my bag and printed my BPs in a short time

I think Malpensa is quite unique among airports, because its entire check-in hall faces both the access roadway and the tarmac, providing excellent spotting opportunities

TAP A321 and Air Europa 737 docked at Satellite 1 (Schengen) with a Lufthansa A320 and a Neos 737 taxiing nearby

Wizzair A321 docked at Satellite 2 (both Schengen and extra-Schengen, with flexible gates)

Royal Air Maroc and SunExpress 737s docked at Satellite 3 (extra-Schengen) and Satellite 2 respectively
Terminal 2 is visible in the background on the left

50 minutes before scheduled boarding time, set for 18:20, I made my way to security

I got airside in around 10 minutes, being the security check-point equipped with many opened lanes 

Mandatory passage through the duty free heading to my assigned gate, A05

The way to Satellite 1, which hosts my gate, presents many good shops and a large food court

The walkway to the Satellite offers more spotting opportunities
Ryanair and Air Europa 737s with the TAP A321 taxiing away

My A319 heading to the pier, just landed from Frankfurt

As architect I really appreciate Terminal 1 design, especially for the fact it was built in two distinctive phases keeping a unitary aspect

The Satellites has a more plain design, but are full of natural light
Gate A05 was ready for my flight's boarding

Vueling A321 with some very nice birds parked behind
Neos 787 Dream)Liner, and two MSC Air Cargo and Korean Air Cargo 777Fs
Malpensa is the busiest cargo airport in Italy

My today's ride:
Lufthansa Airbus A319-100, D-AIBB
First flight of the aircraft on 28th January 2010 (15.2 years), delivered to Lufthansa on February 2010. 12nd A319 delivered to LH
It's equipped with 138 seats in flexible C-Y configuration and named "Aalen". It still carries pre-2018 livery

BOARDING AND TAXIING

Perfectly on time the gate was opened
For most passenger the zone boarding was not clear and this created bit of mess 
Being in group 3 I was able to "sneak" onboard quite early

Corporate door shot…

…and fuselage one

I gave the Flight Report form to the Purser, who immediately understand its purpose, and made my way to my seat
Only rows 1-4 were dedicated to Business Class

Unexpected extra legroom for me today

The view from my seat as the plane was filling

A bigger brother next to us

As boarding was called complete the Pursers handed my the filled-Flight report along with a couple of gifts
Very kind from the Captain and the whole cabin crew!

Ten minutes later than scheduled departure time we left the gate

While heading to runway 35L we passed by a nice line-up of birds

Air Dolomiti Embraer ERJ-190

Neos Air 737MAX

Two private jets: an undefinied 737 (-600 presumably) and an Embraer ERJ-190 owned by Arab Wings Company

The aforementioned ERJ-190 and a FedEx ATR-72

El Al and AlbaStar Boeing 737s

DHL Boeing 737F operated by Cargo Air

Lining up on runway 35L, dedicated to departures at that moment. The parallel one, 35R, handled arrivals

LUFTHANSA 255 flight from MILAN to FRANKFURT

At 19:08, eighteen minutes beyond scheduled, we accelerated for departure

This beautiful Turkish Airlines A350 wishing me good bye from MXP

Climbing over Ticino river, which acts as border between Lombardy and Piedmont Regions

Banking and soon entering in some clouds

As the plane left the Italian airspace the ground was completely hidden by clouds

25 minutes into the flight a bottle of water and a small chocolate bar were delivered
The branded chocolate bar was quite good in quality and taste

A few minutes after the service was done the cabin was already prepared for descent into Frankfurt

DESCENT AND ARRIVAL IN FRANKFURT

As the plane began its descent it was engulfed by clouds

Ground appeared again a bunch of feet before landing
Seems like November in Frankfurt…

Crossing Bundesautobahn 5, which borders the eastern side of the airport
We'd land on runway 25C

Under construction Terminal 3 in the distance

At 20:02, eight minutes before scheduled, we smoothly touched down at Frankfurt Airport 

Vacating soon after touching down

Swiss A320 in Star Alliance livery and a Lufthansa A321neo welcoming us to Frankfurt

Docking at a remote stands a few minutes after landing

Not everyone will get the bus…

Disembarking I saw the Captain inside the cockpit and thanked him for the gifts

The bus ride to the terminal offered many interesting spotting options
Lufthansa 747-8 in retro livery

All Nippon Airways Dream)Liner in Star Alliance livery and the retro Jumbo jet, both docked at Terminal 1B

SunExpress 737-800 with split scimitar winglet

Arriving at the Terminal at 20:20, 50 minutes before my next flight scheduled boarding time

With less than one hour before the boarding to Singapore I put the 4th gear on my legs and pointed straight to the assigned gate
Stay tuned for the next flight's report