Flying Short-haul with Eurowings

DALLAS – The German Lufthansa subsidiary, Eurowings (EW), is known to many as a holiday airline. But the airline also flies short-haul distances. Airways had the chance to experience the service, taking a short flight from Munich (MUC) to Cologne/Bonn (CGN). 

We chose the cheapest fare ("BASIC") for this short flight, with only online check-in and a small piece of cabin luggage included. Lufthansa Cityline also flies this route but at a much more expensive fare. 

Check-In and Boarding

Already at home, I conveniently did the online check-in with the Eurowings app and could go directly to the security check at the airport. Everything worked without any problems.

The EW A320 with the registration D-AEWS arrived punctually at 8:10 a.m. (GMT+2) at gate D06 in Terminal 1 at Munich Airport, the flight number was EW 081. Within 15 minutes, the plane was ready for boarding.

All booking classes were called up one after the other to get in. As I purchased the lowest fare for this short flight, I was one of the last persons to board the plane.

The service staff at the gate was very friendly. When you arrived on the plane, you were greeted by lovely flight attendants, and I was allowed to visit the two pilots in the cockpit directly.

I booked the window seat 15F directly at the wing. The seats were well-cleaned, no more garbage was lying around, and the safety cards were stowed in the seat pockets.

The only criticism was that the windows needed to be cleaned. But that's no wonder with the short preparation time. It started within a very short time.

We were familiarized with the safety precautions on board, the A320 was pushed back, the engines were started, and we began taxiing to the runway, which took about 10 minutes.

We took off on runway 26R as planned at 8:55 a.m. (GMT+2) and made a sharp right turn right immediately after the start. Within about 10 minutes, we reached the cruise flight altitude of the short flight.

There was no free service on this flight, but meals/snacks and drinks could be bought in the board bistro, and of course, there was also an extensive board shop available on the short flight.

A big plus was free Wi-Fi on board, which worked well. The fasten-seatbelt signs were switched on, and the service was discontinued over Frankfurt due to turbulence.

Approach and Landing

After about 20 minutes in the cruise flight altitude, we started the landing approach to Cologne. It was very windy and shook properly. In the final landing approach, we flew past Cologne Cathedral.

After about 55 minutes, we landed safely in Cologne on runway 14L, 10 minutes earlier than expected. On the way to the terminal, we drove past the cargo area of Cologne airport, where there were a pair of B747f and B767f of UPS and other cargo planes.

After about five minutes of taxiing time, we arrived at CGN Terminal 1. Everyone got up, as on every flight, there was a long queue before getting off into the gangway. We were divided with a friendly Bavarian "Servus" by the crew. Overall, it was a very pleasant stay on board the EW flight.

https://airwaysmag.com/eurowings-summer-expansion/

Featured image: Eurowings A320 (D-AEWS) arriving at the gate Photo: Hendrik Bittorf/Airways