Lufthansa ups services for the family

"As Europe's family airline, Lufthansa is making sure that travelling 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 on board with new games, meals and activities that will make even the longest journey a memorable experience," said Carsten Schaeffer, vice-president sales and services Southeast Europe, Middle East and Africa.

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.

Teddy boarding pass

click to enlarge

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.

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 air show. 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 Junior Pilot certificate, signed by the captain himself.

Special attention to our youngest passengers does not end at the gate. On board Lufthansa's long-haul flights, the new Kids' menus offer them even more entertainment. Here, they will find colouring 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.

A range of new services

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 1 October 2013.

"Planes" is about a small propeller plane named Dusty, who wants to take part in the world's most famous aeroplane 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.

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 2-17 years old.

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. For more, go to www.jetfriends.com.

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 "Rotkäppchen" ("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 travelling 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 6 May, 1968, to Johannesburg, operated by a Boeing 707 jet - Mickey Mouse and Disney played an important role in those days as well.