Review: Air France Lounge Frankfurt Airport

I left the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport shortly after 5AM, plenty early for my 7:25AM flight to Paris. Since the Sheraton is connected to Terminal 1, I had to take the train to Terminal 2. The station for the train linking terminals is less than a five minute walk from the Sheraton.

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Train to Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2

The train arrived a minute after I got to the station, so within 10 minutes of leaving the Sheraton I found myself in Terminal 2.

Train to Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2

Upon taking the escalator down into the departures hall, Air France/KLM check-in was located immediately to the left.

Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2 check-in hall

There was quite a line for the check-in counter, though fortunately there were some kiosks in the center of the terminal which could process reservations for several airlines, so I was able to print my boarding passes there.

Air France check-in Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2 check-in hall

I followed the signage towards my departure gate, where I was led to a security checkpoint. Since it was still so early in the morning there was no queue, and I was through in a matter of minutes.

Frankfurt Airport Terminal 2 airside

I hadn’t researched my lounge options before getting to the airport, so quickly hopped onto the Wi-Fi and saw that Air France has a lounge at Frankfurt Airport, located between gates D26 and D27.

That was confirmed by the signage in terminal. The lounge was quite a ways from the main security checkpoint, and the hallway was almost eerily quiet, which I’m not used to at Frankfurt Airport, as it’s usually overcrowded.

Directions to Air France Lounge Frankfurt Airport

The Air France lounge was located towards the end of the hallway and to the right, just next to the Iberia lounge.

Entrance to Air France Lounge Frankfurt Airport

It’s worth noting that in addition to serving other SkyTeam airlines, the Air France Lounge Frankfurt is also available to those flying Icelandair, airBaltic, Finnair, and airberlin.

Airlines using Air France Lounge Frankfurt

SkyTeam lounge sign

While the SkyTeam indicated that the lounge opens at 5:30AM, it in fact opens at 5:45AM, at least on the morning I was visiting. So I had to wait about 10 minutes before it opened.

There were a few people lined up to get into the lounge, but within a minute or so of the lounge opening my boarding pass was scanned and I was admitted.

The lounge itself was a bit larger than I was expecting, and was fairly well designed. There was a main room with a bunch of small dining tables, with 2-4 seats each.

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

Along the windows were some leather chairs facing the interior of the lounge, with a side table after every two seats.

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

There was also an area with high-top seating.

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

Then another part of the lounge had slightly more stylish seating, which also had more privacy, thanks to the presence of some partitions.

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

Air France Lounge seating Frankfurt Airport

In the back corner of the lounge was a small business center with a few stations.

Air France Lounge business center Frankfurt Airport

The buffet area was in an “L” shape, between the two areas of the lounge.

On the left side there were some bananas, mini-muffins, chips, and snack mix.

Air France Lounge buffet Frankfurt Airport

Next to that were a few types of wine, and then also a small selection of liquor.

Air France Lounge wine selection Frankfurt Airport

Air France Lounge liquor selection Frankfurt Airport

There was also a fridge with cheese, yogurt, and fruit salad.

Air France Lounge snacks Frankfurt Airport

Next to that were several types of bread and cold cuts.

Air France Lounge bread and cold cuts Frankfurt Airport

There were also three types of cereal.

Air France Lounge cereal Frankfurt Airport

But who needs cold cuts and cheese when you can simply spread Nutella on a piece of bread? 😉

Air France Lounge snacks Frankfurt Airport

There was also a fridge with bottled water, soft drinks, beer, and white wine.

Air France Lounge beer & soft drinks Frankfurt Airport

Then there was a juice machine.

Air France Lounge juice machine Frankfurt Airport

Perhaps intended for the Chinese airlines which operate out of the concourse, there were several types of instant noodles.

Air France Lounge noodles Frankfurt Airport

There was also an espresso machine, which was one of the better lounge espresso machines I’ve seen.

Air France Lounge espresso machine Frankfurt Airport

There were also some delicious cookies — mmmmm.

Air France Lounge cookies Frankfurt Airport

I couldn’t resist a cappuccino and two of the cookies, which were tasty.

Air France Lounge cappuccino & cookie Frankfurt Airport

I spent about 45 minutes in the lounge getting caught up on work, thanks to the fast Wi-Fi connection.

Boarding was scheduled for 6:50AM, so I headed to gate D23 at around 6:40AM. The gate area was fully enclosed, meaning they scan your boarding pass as you enter the gate area, and once you’re in the gate you’re already considered to be on the plane.

Air France departure gate Frankfurt Airport

While our flight was using a remote stand, there were nice views of the China Eastern A330 at the gate next to us.

China Eastern A330 Frankfurt Airport

Not to get political, but I’m curious what you guys think about something I don’t really understand about European airports. No matter where you stand politically, I think we all agree that we have problems with guns in the US (some say the solution is to get rid of them, others say the solution is that everyone should be armed). Collectively Europe has fewer gun issues, though I find it interesting how there are consistently officers roaming several major European airports with machine guns.

In this instance there were two guys with machine guns in our actual gate area. Like, not roaming the terminal, but rather they had entered our “sterile” area, and were blocking the stairs to the remote stand. I assume the machine guns in general are intended to intimidate, though the widespread use of them doesn’t make sense to me, especially past security.

I guess I’m supposed to feel safer?

If they’re assuming passengers are being properly screened, I don’t get the point of this “intimidation” past the checkpoint. If someone did sneak something through security, they’d almost surely want to do harm on a plane, rather than just in the terminal. So I’m not sure who they’re intended to stop or how they’re intended to intimidate.

What I do know is that being around people with machine guns in public spaces makes me sort of uncomfortable. Not that I was actually scared, but I’m just not a fan of people with machine guns standing around me. I mean, it certainly doesn’t put me at ease.

Can anyone rationalize the prevalence of officers with machine guns at European airports?

Anyway, finally at 6:55AM boarding was announced, starting with SkyPriority, which included business class passengers and SkyTeam elite members.

Air France Lounge Frankfurt Airport bottom line

Of course my favorite lounge at Frankfurt Airport is the Lufthansa First Class Terminal, and this lounge can’t compete with it. But that’s also not a fair comparison. Perhaps a fairer comparison would be to the Japan Airlines Lounge Frankfurt or Air Canada Lounge Frankfurt.

For an outstation lounge in Europe I thought this one was perfectly nice. It was spacious, well designed, and had a good selection of food & drinks. While I wouldn’t arrive early to use the lounge, it’s a nice enough place to kill time if you’re flying a SkyTeam airline out of Terminal 2 in Frankfurt.

Of course it paled in comparison to the next lounge I’d visit, which is one of my favorites and one of the best airport lounges in the world — the Air France First Class Lounge Paris!

If you’ve used the Air France lounge in Frankfurt, what was your experience like?