Firenze, Italy to USA

Monday, June 6, 2016

Firenze, Italy to USA

My flight home was going through Frankfurt (FRA) and Washington Dulles (IAD). It was leaving around 10:00am and I was at the airport about 2.5 hours early. The Florence airport is very close to the city center and I arrived quicker than I thought I would. The lounge at the very small Florence airport was airside, which is before security, so you have to make sure to leave enough time to clear security and get to the gate. The airport is very small and there seems to be flights only on small regional aircraft. I think the largest aircraft that is able to land there is the A319.

I spent some time at the lounge and had some breakfast before I went to the gate. It was a very small lounge and it wasn't specific to any one airline. I think all the airlines use it and I was the only person there for a while.

I took a walk around the small terminal before I went through security. There wasn't really much to see and there was not any shopping at all.

These are the aircraft stands. There are no jet bridges here.

This is the check-in area.

There were a few little shops once you get through security and one large waiting area for several gates. You take buses out to the planes even though they are clearly within walking distance of the terminal. My plane couldn't have been more than 200 feet from the terminal, yet they still made us get on a bus.

My plane to Frankfurt was an ERJ 190. It's one of the largest regional jets out there and I love them because the seating is only 2x2 and the windows are gigantic.

The buses leaving from the terminal are pictured here. The plane was ridiculously close.

A Swiss Avro Jet is pictured here.

The seat next to me had this on it and no one sat there. Actually about the first 6 or 7 rows had this so that there were only 2 people in each row instead of 4. I think it was to enforce weight restrictions because the runway is so short.

The take off from Florence was very similar to leaving from Orange County because they held the brakes and revved the engines and then the plane rocketed down the runway. They served a small snack on this flight that only lasted about 1.5 hours if that.

I was excited to fly through Frankfurt because it is a huge international hub. Our plane parked at least a mile away. It seemed like an area where many regional jets park. Once again we boarded a bus and weaved through various planes along the way to the terminal.

Here is a Qatar 787 and a China Airlines 777.

This is Lufthansa 747-8i.

Here is a Lufthansa A340-300.

A retro livery on a Turkish A330.

This is my 747-8i that would take me to Dulles.

The terminal in Frankfurt was huge and packed. I found a lounge and it was packed. I think only got some water and used the internet. The terminal was so hot and uncomfortable. The flight to Dulles was actually not great at all. It was jam packed and I sat in the second to last row. The seats recline a lot which is nice, but that means the person in front of you is merely inches from your face. The saving grace was that the flight was only about 8 hours.