Ah Germany, Germany. Is there any country which generates such a complicated range of opinions? The great spy writer John le Carre has probably come closest to capturing the whole kaleidoscope of emotions felt by those who know Germany well. Check out the new range of dramatisations of his George Smiley series from the BBC, starting with this superb version of ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’.

German brand

When you think Lufthansa, you think Germany. In marketing terms, it’s impossible to divorce ‘the brand’ from the country. This is generally true. In an era when other brands strive to be truly global and neutral, airlines - the first international brands - remain quaintly local and rooted in their country of origin. And they play on it. Think American Airlines ‘ you’re flyin’ American, right?’, or Qantas ‘Spirit of Australia’. Sometimes an airline can even define a country brand - who doesn’t love ‘Singapore girl’? Even Virgin Atlantic is all about a quirky Union Jack identity.

What’s great to see is that Lufthansa is prepared to experiment by moving away from the traditional, stuffy idea of the German brand to the more eccentric and fun aspects of the nation - hence the duck from the Munich lounge (above) is dressed like an extra from the World Cup team.

British Midland Lufthansa?

Interestingly, Lufthansa now finds itself with an anomaly in its family of airline brands which it doesn’t know quite what to do with: BMI. This cottage industry airline has been much beloved by those of us who have enjoyed the generosity of its Diamond Club and the cosy provinciality of its staff. I could best describe its brand as ‘travelling with your favourite auntie’. That was all just fine before the credit crunch, when it was still owned and managed by its original founders. But there was a bomb waiting to go off: BMI chairman Sir Michael Bishop had agreed to sell his majority shares to Lufthansa when the economic skies looked crystal clear, then had to go to court to force them to go through with the deal - as the roof fell in on our global financial system. It’s believed Lufthansa tried to offload it immediately. Apart from a few comical and half-hearted remarks by Captain Willie Walsh, there were no takers. Even the sainted Beard of Virgin fame was strapped for cash in 2009.

So the Germans decided to soldier on, and try to make some sense of their unwanted new toy. After a while, you could see some cogs in the corporate brain starting to whirr. Someone clearly woke up to the fact that BMI had a low-cost operations model which was actually much less regulated and unionised than Lufthansa, Austrian or Swiss. Hurrah! Suddenly we found ourselves on BMI flights when travelling to Austrian or Lufthansa locations (all flights from London to Berlin now seem to be BMI). The head office wonks probably also realised that the previous management had done a nice job in securing routes for places with high growth potential, such as the Middle East and other oil locations. And they have a very nice new lounge at the generally hellish Heathrow T1.

It will be fascinating to watch what Lufthansa does now with BMI, and whether they can build a proper British brand in the German family. I hope they do.

For the moment, Lufthansa’s old crew is clinging on to the London-Munch route, which would probably be a step too far for the powerful German airline unions (who are still considerably less annoying than their British equivalents).

Eastward Bound

So it’s a Lufthansa flight that we find ourselves aboard on the afternoon of January 2010, on the way to Munich and our First Class flight to Seoul, South Korea. So why First Class, and why Seoul, a northern Asian City which is ruddy freezing at the best of times in January and very far away? Well, we found ourselves with a large excess of generous BMI Diamond Club miles and wanted to spend them on some swanky travel which would be very hard to experience either with cash or another airline club (by contrast, Lufthansa’s ‘Miles & More’ is far meaner). And why Seoul? After the dreadful year of 2009, I think we we were sick of Europe, which was starting to feel like a badly failing part of the world. We needed an injection of Asian energy, high technology, service, style and fun. And that’s Seoul - but more about the Korean capital in the next post.

To understand what I mean about Europe, consider our business class flight from London to Munich. It was perfunctory at best, with plastic food, cramped seats and disinterested service. But Lufthansa isn’t alone in this. All European flights are terrible, some are just more terrible than others. I’ll give the old Lufthansa Munich crew something: at least they are still polite and respectful to passengers requests, unlike the disgruntled staff of some airlines closer to home, who look as if they want to stab you in the chest when you ask for an extra wet towel.

Willkommen in München

But landing at Munich, everything changes. The Lufthansa bosses have clearly decided that Asia is the future, and anyone travelling First Class to one of its major cities has to be treated like a minor Deity. We stepped off the London flight to be greeted by the driver of a gleaming black Mercedes, who transported us in considerable style past the usual immigration nonsense and bureaucracy straight to the Lufthansa First Class Lounge.

One of the worst fallacies of the absurd Blair years (read Andrew Rawnsley for a jaw-dropping account) was that we had somehow over taken Germany (and France for that matter) in standards of living. You only have to spend five minutes in one of their many shiny airports to realise this is not the case. Germany has spent twenty years paying for the hell of reconstructing the East, and has emerged from that stronger and more prosperous than us. Munich Airport is among the shiniest, and you don’t have to be travelling at the front of the bus to enjoy its spacious modern facilities, wide range of cafes and restaurants and helpful staff. There is a reason it has been voted ‘Europe’s Airport of the Year, 2010’.

First Class Lounge

But back to that First Class lounge. I always thought it would be hard to beat Virgin’s incomparable Club House at Heathrow. Lufthansa Munich doesn’t quite do that. My favourite experience remains having a three-hour Virgin breakfast one Sunday on the way to New York, eggs benedict and the Weekend FT. But this one comes pretty close. Like Virgin, you get a cooked breakfast (or lunch, dinner) in the restaurant.

The shower facilities also give Baron Branson something to think about, as they have jacuzzis as well as showers (I didn’t indulge). Where they have the edge is in the standard of service, as even Virgin staff suffer now and again from the British ‘whatever’ attitude when you ask them for something. I’ve always thought German standards of service overall are the best in Europe, and this experience reinforces that view. Finally, which other airline lounge gives guests their own special rubber duck!

On board

Then it was time to fly to for Seoul. In a way, what I am about to write can be considered a period piece, as Lufthansa has now unveiled a complete revamp of its First Class service for its new fleet of A380s. But in a crazy way, unveiling a super-swanky A380 is easy! Offering outstanding service on an A340-300 with several years of hard graft under its wings is much harder.

Glorious Food

Our A340-300 certainly passed the test. Let’s start with my favourite: the food. It was all glorious, and our pictures probably speak for themselves. I went for as many Asian options as I could, and had my introduction to the legendary Korean vegetable dish: kimchi (below).

Since we flew, Lufthansa has enhanced its Asian cuisine offer by hiring noted Korean chef Hyo Nam Park to offer ‘classical French cuisine with an Asian touch’. According to the Korea Times:

“Park presents classical French cuisine such as almond jelly topped with caviar goose liver parfait, lobster lasagna in a saffron cappuccino sauce, medallion of veal and potato pyramid, ice cold souffle with lemon sherbet and chocolate tahini cream. He added subtle Asian flavors to French cuisine and created his own style of innovative and inspiring dishes.”

Moves like this are clear signs that Lufthansa is thinking about its Asian routes as a service which requires special attention. That’s smart thinking about the future which most other European airlines are not emulating.

High Amenity

As good as the food was, the best of Lufthansa First Class is to be found in the accessories, which have become notably less impressive on most airlines in recent years. As a result of our two flights, I am now the proud owner of two Lufthansa Rimowa amenity kits (above) - which seem to sell for ridiculous prices on eBay, and one pair of specially-designed Van Laak pyjamas - the most stylish you’ll find anywhere at 30,000 feet.

The Verdict

The Lufthansa cabin crew were terrific, and we landed at the super hi-tech Seoul Incheon airport feeling fresher than we did leaving London.

Sadly, this will probably be the last time we can ever travel First Class on Lufthansa to Asia or anywhere else long haul. Someone has leaked the fact that the Germans are going to scrap the Diamond Club next year and replace it with ‘Miles & More’, meaning you’d have to fly virtually every second day or the year to earn a Gold Card and access to the fabulous facilities on offer at Munich and the other German airports.

How we got there

We travelled on LH718 from Munich to Seoul, January 2, 2010, and LH719 from Seoul to Munich, January 10, 2010

Our ratings for Lufthansa First Class

1-5 stars

Cabin & Entertainment

****

On-board cuisine

****                                                                                                            

Service/staff

*****

Lounge facilities

*****

For more pictures of our Lufthansa flights, click here.