Cuddly animals receive a “Teddy boarding pass” – New Disney movie “Planes” turns seat into theatre at 40,000 feet – 45th anniversary of dedicated kids’ service.
With the summer travel season in full swing, Lufthansa is once again bolstering its services for the entire family with unique “Family Check-in Areas” at Frankfurt and Munich Airports, enhanced onboard children’s meals, snacks and games, as well as mementos that even the youngest travelers will treasure.
“As Europe’s family airline, Lufthansa is making sure traveling with small children is stress free this summer, providing exclusive family-friendly check-in counters in our main hubs, making the check-in process stress free, convenient and above all enjoyable. The real fun begins onboard with new games, meals and activities which will make even the longest journey a memorable experience,” said Carsten Schaeffer, Vice President Sales & Services Southeast Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The new family Check-in Area hosted by Lu & Cosmo
The new “Family Check-in Areas” are for families traveling with children up to 12 years old and conveniently located at both Frankfurt and Munich Airports. Under the motto “Your youngsters are the greatest“, the special counters, where boarding passes and luggage can be dropped off, are easily found in the terminal by parents and children alike. Designed with a family-friendly atmosphere, the path to the counters looks like a runway, past monitors displaying “Lu” & “Cosmo, known for welcoming the youngest passengers to Lufthansa flights. Lu and his little friend Cosmo are Lufthansa’s two mascots. These two young cranes experience many adventures together, traveling the world and having loads of fun.
The first ever boarding pass for a Teddy
Cuddly animals are not left stranded either – they, too, receive a “Teddy boarding pass”, all their own. Lufthansa check-in staff at the dedicated family counters issue boarding passes, note seat reservations and even provide children a boarding pass for their cuddly soft toy or teddy bear. “Family guides” are also readily available, indicating the location of children’s play areas, baby changing facilities, child-friendly restaurants, pharmacies, supermarkets, observation decks, not to mention discount vouchers for airport shopping.
Logbook revival for little flyers
A legend is coming back to the cabin: A new logbook for kids will be handed out on all flights by the crews to our youngest guests. All the kids need to do is fill in the logbook with the information on the boarding pass or from the airshow. Naturally the logbooks can be signed on every flight by a member of the crew. For the kids it’s all about entering the flights one after the other. After the 12th departure they will be presented with the sought-after Junior Pilot certificate, signed by the captain himself.
New healthy meals for entertainment
Special attention to our youngest passengers does not end at the gate. On board Lufthansa’s long haul flights, the new Kids’ menus are sure to get children’s hearts racing, offering them even more entertainment. Here, they will find coloring-books, puzzles and fun illustrations of meals to build their appetites. The recipes of the meals served will also be provided so that they can be cooked again at home. The tasty treats created by Lufthansa’s chefs will definitely make young passengers’ mouths water. The dedicated children’s menus on Lufthansa flights for children are based on the principles of a healthy, balanced diet. Dishes for young passengers therefore contain as little sugar as possible and instead use honey as a sweetener. Only high-quality fats such as olive oil are used, and only in reduced amounts.
Disney movie “Planes” on screen at 40,000 feet from October
And that’s not all, in the run-up to the new Disney 3D animation film “Planes”, Lufthansa will be offering its passengers, both big and small, a range of new services that are guaranteed to make the journey fly by. The movie will be available on Lufthansa’s Media World – Long Haul in-flight entertainment system from October 1st, 2013. “Planes” is about a small propeller plane named Dusty, who wants to take part in the world’s most famous airplane race even though he is afraid of heights. The film, which builds on the success of the animation movie ‘Cars’, takes the audience on a journey to seven exciting locations around the world: the USA, Iceland, Germany, India, China, Nepal and Mexico are all on the itinerary. Children who visit the JetFriends children’s lounge for First and Business Class passengers or the supervised areas for children travelling by themselves will even have an opportunity before the flight to play with cuddly toys, jigsaw puzzles and figures from the Disney “Planes” film.
JetFriends – a special frequent flyer program for the youngest
For children who are enthusiastic about travelling, future pilots or those who simply love to play and have fun, the free JetFriends club for kids and teens is just the thing. The club offers a glimpse into the world of aviation and behind the scenes at Lufthansa, as well as runs regular competitions and membership is open to any child or teenager aged from two to 17. JetFriends members automatically join the Miles & More frequent flyer programme and earn award miles. Best of all: as long as they are a member of the JetFriends club, the miles will remain valid. Naturally the JetFriends club has its own club membership card with a trendy lanyard so you can keep the card on you.
Over 45 years of special care
Beyond the seasonal summer time family facilities, Lufthansa has a long standing tradition of providing year-round special services to families with small children, customers with limited mobility and passengers requiring extra care. Known as the famous “Red Cap” Service, so nicknamed the “Rotkappchen” (“Red Caps”) by journalists in the early days of the company’s history of special care, Lufthansa’s Special Services team has hundreds of colleagues tasked with providing special care, whether it is accompanying children traveling on their own, elderly passengers or passengers with reduced mobility. This service was introduced already in May 1968 meaning that Lufthansa is looking back with pride at 45 years of special services. The first Lufthansa flight taking advantage of this new service was on 6th May 1968 to Johannesburg, operated by a Boeing 707 jet – Mickey Mouse and Disney played an important role in those days as well.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
