As a Swiss, I have a natural bias when it comes to the Lufthansa Group: SWISS is the airline I fly most and judge most often. That makes Lufthansa, the parent company, an interesting test. Can the German flagship keep up with its Swiss subsidiary in short-haul Business Class? This Lufthansa A321 Business Class review from Munich to Hamburg gives a clear answer, and it is not the one I expected. For comparison, read my SWISS A320 review from Zurich to Hamburg and my SWISS A321neo review from Hamburg to Zurich, or browse all our flight reviews.
A Hundred Years of Lufthansa
There is a special reason to fly Lufthansa this year. The airline traces its history back to 1926, when Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded, and 2026 is its centenary. You notice it on the ground and in the air: the anniversary “100” logo appears in the lounge and on the headrests on board. A centenary is a promise of sorts. If a company celebrates a hundred years of flying, I expect it to show what it has learned. On this short evening flight, it did.
- From
- Munich (MUC)
- To
- Hamburg (HAM)
- Distance
- 600 km
Great-circle distance between the airports.
The Lufthansa Business Class Lounge in Munich
Munich is Lufthansa’s second hub after Frankfurt, and the airline’s home at Munich Airport is Terminal 2, which Lufthansa runs together with the airport. The Lufthansa Business Class Lounge there is a spacious place to wait for an evening flight, with lounge chairs, high tables, glass walls and the anniversary “100” logo on display.
Before boarding I kept it simple and very Bavarian: a soft pretzel and a cold drink at a high table, with carafes of water infused with fruit and mint within reach. It is not a lounge you visit for its architecture or its menu, and it does not pretend to be. Compared with the overcrowded SWISS lounge I faced in Zurich on another trip, it did exactly what a lounge should do before a short flight. Four points.
Boarding and Seat
The A321 was waiting at the jet bridge for the evening departure to Hamburg.
Lufthansa’s European Business Class follows the familiar formula of the Lufthansa Group: slimline leather seats in a 3-3 layout, with the middle seat kept free in Business, and a curtain to separate the cabin from Economy. At the front, a “Lufthansa Business Class” sign at the bulkhead and the blue welcome panel with the crane and the Star Alliance logo set the tone. It is a sober, very German look: grey, blue, clean lines, no frills.
On this aircraft, the leather headrests carry the “100” anniversary logo. The seat itself is the same as in Economy; what makes it Business Class is the free middle seat, which gives you room for your elbows, your jacket and a laptop. For a flight of about an hour over roughly 600 kilometres, that is enough. Not a revelation, but solid and comfortable: 4.3 points, slightly below the newer cabin of the SWISS A321neo.
Catering: the Best Tray in a While
Here Lufthansa won me over. The bilingual menu card opens with a clear philosophy: pure flavours through natural preparation, and fewer components, so that the quality of each product can speak for itself. It is the kind of promise many airlines print and few keep. On this flight, the kitchen kept it.
The cold meal was a peppered shrimp confit on couscous with black garlic cream and herb oil, garnished with fresh dill, served with a crusty roll and butter. For dessert there was a blackcurrant and elderberry slice with vanilla sauce, layered in deep purple and pale cream. Everything came on a proper tray: a white porcelain plate, a black dessert bowl, and the napkin rolled in a band with the Lufthansa crane.
Simple, precise and well presented. Three components on the main plate, each recognisable, none of them hiding behind a heavy sauce. On a flight of this length, I would not ask for more. 4.8 points, ahead of both of my recent SWISS flights.
The drinks list matches the tray. Besides Hochwald mineral water, juices, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, tonic water, bitter lemon and a non-alcoholic beer, it offers a Pils, a German Winzersekt, white and red wine, Campari, Lhéraud VS cognac, Ziegler Avionic, Baileys, Grey Goose, Johnnie Walker Black Label and Bombay Sapphire gin, served here with Goldberg tonic. Coffee comes from the Munich house of Dallmayr, tea from Eilles, including a herbal Ayurvedic blend and a summer berry infusion.
For guests who do without alcohol, as I do, this matters more than one might think. The soft drinks came properly served in glasses over ice with a slice of lemon, not handed over in a can with a plastic cup. Small details, but they are exactly what separates Business Class from a seat with a free sandwich.
Crew and Entertainment
The crew earned 4.6 points, more than either of my recent SWISS crews. That is the kind of result that makes the difference on a short flight, where there is little time to serve a full tray, a drinks round and coffee between take-off and descent.
As usual on European routes, there are no seatback screens on the A321. Bring your own device, a book or your work. On an evening flight, a quiet hour with a good tray is entertainment enough for me, but by the standards of this criterion it remains average: three and a half points.
How It Compares with SWISS
This year I have flown three short routes in the Lufthansa Group’s European Business Class, all of them to or from Hamburg. Here is how they compare in my scores:
| SWISS A320, Zurich – Hamburg | SWISS A321neo, Hamburg – Zurich | Lufthansa A321, Munich – Hamburg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat | 4 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Catering | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| Crew | 4 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Onboard entertainment | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Lounge | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Overall | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
The product is the same family, the seat formula identical, the entertainment equally absent. The differences lie in the details a crew and a kitchen can control, and on this evening Lufthansa had the edge.
Arrival in Hamburg
About an hour after take-off, we were in Hamburg. My answer to the question I started with: on this evening, Lufthansa did not just keep up with SWISS in short-haul Business Class. On catering and crew, it was ahead. For a Swiss reviewer, that is not an easy sentence to write, but it is an honest one, and a fitting present for an airline’s hundredth birthday.
Recommended
Lufthansa surprised me on this short evening hop to Hamburg. The tray was the best I have been served in European Business Class for some time, the drinks list had real depth, and the crew outscored both of my recent SWISS flights. The seat and the entertainment remain what they are on every European route: perfectly adequate, nothing more. But on the things a crew and a kitchen can influence, Lufthansa delivered.
Roger Hohl
Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.
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