I was on the second CCU-FRA flight on December 5. Load was (according to the Indian Steward) 35%, but he said loads were increasing to around 80% leading upto March. He said loads will increase as awareness improves of this flight.

At check-in, there were a lot of high-ranking LH officials who were eager to make sure all was fine. Staff at check-in were very courteous.

Saw the crew boarding the flight. I counted 4 guys for the cockpit and 14 FAs. Of the 14, there was 1 Indian Steward and 1 Air hostess. On the flight the Indian guy (I think his name was Vaidyalingam) was very active whereas the air-hostess was not much to be seen. He was fluent in German, whereas the lady did not see to know German since she was talking to the German air hostesses in English.

It was interesting how the station manager dictated the boarding announcement to one of the ground staff, she wrote it down on a notepad, and was reading it out from the announcement booth. I guess by now, she has by-hearted it.

Equipment was Airbus 340-300. Seats were 2-4-2 configuration. But no in-seat video, just the old drop-down monitors. I was hoping they would put new equipment on this new route, but alas. Aircraft was clean. Near the toilets and the galley, I saw a mark saying HotSpot (I guess it was for Internet access).

Takeoff was scheduled at 05:10 but actual takeoff was at 04:55, since load was less (even on the incoming flight from FRA) so deplaning finished fast, boarding was announced early and completed quite early.

Flight path was interesting - over Afghanistan, central asia, Moscow and then westwards and south-west over Warsay, Berlin and onto Frankfurt. Wonder why flight path was not over Iran and the Black sea - journey would have been shorter.

Food was excellent by LH standards. After takeoff, food was served. I took Noodles with chicken, and before landing in FRA, breakfast was served where I took spinach omlette with bread. Unfortunately for me, they did not have the sof-melt-in-mouth Croissants which LH offers multiple helpings normally.

Landing in FRA was 10 min before scheduled 11:00 arrival, since there was congestion and strong winds.

The aircraft parked in a really remote bay at Frankfurt (near the cargo terminal) and it took a 10 minute bus ride before arriving at the arrival gate, which was Terminal B in my case.

Later, i flew LH to Munich and a round trip Munich-Lisbon by LH amd Lisbon-Munich by TAP Portugal (which is a Star Alliance partner). Will post that trip-report later.