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I recently had an opportunity to spend a few days in Muscat, Oman. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by Oman and had a really interesting, enjoyable time. Muscat may not be the world's most tourist-friendly city, but it has its own charm. February is an ideal time to visit too as it is currently winter, so the temperatures were quite pleasant (around 25 degrees) and the rainy season hasn't yet begun.
On this trip I flew from Amsterdam to Dubai, where I stopped over for around 24 hours before continuing to Muscat. I then had two full days in Oman before flying back to Amsterdam. So, it was a short but sweet long weekend.
I flew with Lufthansa, Swiss Air and Turkish Airlines on this trip in a mixture of Business, Premium Economy and Economy. Here was the routing:
![map.gif map.gif](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142342-65006615e83d36b034082ac5b80cb0ef.jpg)
Flight 1: Lufthansa LH987
Amsterdam 08:45 - Frankfurt 09:55
Airbus A321
Business Class
This trip began on a freezing Thursday morning in Amsterdam.
There was a late aircraft change to a larger plane and the flight wasn't full, so there were a lot of seat changes at the gate. For reasons I don't quite understand, Lufthansa was running 11 rows of Business class for 6 passengers on this flight. I was assigned 11F, while the other 5 passengers were in the first couple of rows. This was the (bizarre) seat map:
I've written about Lufthansa's short-haul Business class before. It's basically a Euro-Business setup where you're given a slimline Economy seat at the front of the plane, and the middle seat is blocked. There is a curtain separating Business from Economy, but the hard product is the same. Here's a quick legroom shot:
It was snowing in Amsterdam so many flights were delayed, including ours. Around half an hour after the scheduled departure time, the captain came out from the coughpit and stood at the front of the cabin to make an announcement directly to the passengers. "Unfortunately I have time to make this announcement in front of you because we will be waiting here from another 30 minutes. There is some light snowfall in Frankfurt and that has led to a complete breakdown of that airport." He then went on to explain exactly what would happen and at what time… "We're not allowed to land in Frankfurt earlier than 10:30, and the flight will take 40 minutes. So I plan to push back at 09:43 and be at the runway ready to become airborne at precisely 09:50. First we will need to de-ice and that takes around 15 minutes, so we will start that process at 09:25."
The captain's plan was executed exactly as described, to the minute, and we landed in Frankfurt at 10:30 on the dot.
De-icing:
After we finally took off, a superb cold breakfast was served to Business class passengers along with tea and coffee.
The crew were friendly and it was a pleasant short flight.
Arriving in Frankfurt:
![2F221B09-C90F-4D3C-BE08-41EF71F0E8F7.jpeg 2F221B09-C90F-4D3C-BE08-41EF71F0E8F7.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142350-556a6d91ea26931fc976d9345339894d.jpg)
On this trip I flew from Amsterdam to Dubai, where I stopped over for around 24 hours before continuing to Muscat. I then had two full days in Oman before flying back to Amsterdam. So, it was a short but sweet long weekend.
I flew with Lufthansa, Swiss Air and Turkish Airlines on this trip in a mixture of Business, Premium Economy and Economy. Here was the routing:
![map.gif map.gif](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142342-65006615e83d36b034082ac5b80cb0ef.jpg)
Flight 1: Lufthansa LH987
Amsterdam 08:45 - Frankfurt 09:55
Airbus A321
Business Class
This trip began on a freezing Thursday morning in Amsterdam.
![C7E97C67-7530-4084-A854-CCC8CEF984EA.jpeg C7E97C67-7530-4084-A854-CCC8CEF984EA.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142344-99de5dedab0e0a59385838b3e5a00433.jpg)
There was a late aircraft change to a larger plane and the flight wasn't full, so there were a lot of seat changes at the gate. For reasons I don't quite understand, Lufthansa was running 11 rows of Business class for 6 passengers on this flight. I was assigned 11F, while the other 5 passengers were in the first couple of rows. This was the (bizarre) seat map:
![F1532EB2-FA17-4974-B486-2304E17C731E.jpeg F1532EB2-FA17-4974-B486-2304E17C731E.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142343-f7e8a9bd7d68edaa5b11f5ada43b61c4.jpg)
I've written about Lufthansa's short-haul Business class before. It's basically a Euro-Business setup where you're given a slimline Economy seat at the front of the plane, and the middle seat is blocked. There is a curtain separating Business from Economy, but the hard product is the same. Here's a quick legroom shot:
![4B9B9B64-A0D1-4BEE-B0DA-AD0473992224.jpeg 4B9B9B64-A0D1-4BEE-B0DA-AD0473992224.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142346-9e18fe3ad4b41accf00bb801e2b5d8ab.jpg)
It was snowing in Amsterdam so many flights were delayed, including ours. Around half an hour after the scheduled departure time, the captain came out from the coughpit and stood at the front of the cabin to make an announcement directly to the passengers. "Unfortunately I have time to make this announcement in front of you because we will be waiting here from another 30 minutes. There is some light snowfall in Frankfurt and that has led to a complete breakdown of that airport." He then went on to explain exactly what would happen and at what time… "We're not allowed to land in Frankfurt earlier than 10:30, and the flight will take 40 minutes. So I plan to push back at 09:43 and be at the runway ready to become airborne at precisely 09:50. First we will need to de-ice and that takes around 15 minutes, so we will start that process at 09:25."
The captain's plan was executed exactly as described, to the minute, and we landed in Frankfurt at 10:30 on the dot.
De-icing:
![D823C0AC-44F1-40AF-82DC-751796F98EE3.jpeg D823C0AC-44F1-40AF-82DC-751796F98EE3.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142345-94cd0e81a76a80b20cc41daf118cb43d.jpg)
After we finally took off, a superb cold breakfast was served to Business class passengers along with tea and coffee.
![8EA10C03-AD4C-44EB-9FA8-00131AF2523F.jpeg 8EA10C03-AD4C-44EB-9FA8-00131AF2523F.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142347-33b87cad11798154357d73e7e3cfe00f.jpg)
The crew were friendly and it was a pleasant short flight.
![24222108-43F0-47B2-84D0-38D7D31FB364.jpeg 24222108-43F0-47B2-84D0-38D7D31FB364.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142348-83447637e68cd7eafa6329428ae806ff.jpg)
Arriving in Frankfurt:
![5E0C4F08-CF8E-4E87-8E22-E7900D067C23.jpeg 5E0C4F08-CF8E-4E87-8E22-E7900D067C23.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142349-2b94341ed307fb35d36f845be597dc70.jpg)
![2F221B09-C90F-4D3C-BE08-41EF71F0E8F7.jpeg 2F221B09-C90F-4D3C-BE08-41EF71F0E8F7.jpeg](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/142/142350-556a6d91ea26931fc976d9345339894d.jpg)