In May and June 2023, we travelled from east to west across Canada. From Halifax in Nova Scotia to Montreal in Quebec, to Toronto in Ontario, to Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia. Along the way some night trains and commuter trains, the Niagara Falls and – imagine this – a bus journey. A true Trans-Canada Train Trek.
After arriving on the Queen of the Skies from Vancouver we just had to clear passport control and descend one level for our onward flight to Brussels a few gates down. We would be departing from gate A32. While it has a jetway attached to the gate, it is currently out of service as it is used as an apron parking area, thus we were bussed to our plane. It wouldn’t be a Frankfurt connection without a busride.
Flight LH1012
From Frankfurt (FRA) 13:00 (13:36) to Brussels (BRU) 13:55 (14:19)
Flight Time 0 hours and 44 minutes
Airbus A319-114 D-AILU “Verden”
Delivered to Lufthansa in November 1997
The bus brought us out to the remote stand where our Airbus A319 sporting the special Lu livery was standing. It was nice to have a special livery instead of a bog standard Lufthansa A320 series aircraft. They even went as far as to paint some images on the wings too, I tried to take a picture of it but it was difficult to get a good shot (some things are just better seen with your own eyes).
Boarding took quite a while as they only had a stair at the front of the aircraft, nonetheless there was no rush as due to works in Brussels Airport there was only 1 runway in use and we had to wait for a departure slot as they operated on reduced capacity.
Eventually we got on our way and had a brief and uneventful flight to Brussels. While Lufthansa meanwhile also embraced the buy on board concept on short-haul flights they still offer a complimentary bottle of water and a chocolate during the flight. It’s better than nothing and sufficient for the short flight to Brussels but a bit stingy on longer sectors especially as they brand themselves as a premium carrier.
In the end they got us (and our bags) safely to our destination and brought an unremarkable end to our wonderful Canada trip.
2023 Trans-Canada Train Trek
- REVIEW | Brussels Airlines Brussels to Munich in Economy.
- REVIEW | Lufthansa Premium Economy Munich to Montreal.
- REVIEW | Air Canada Economy Montreal to Halifax.
- Flying Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Air Canada Brussels – Munich – Montreal – Halifax in minimal economy.
- HALIFAX | Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.
- REVIEW | The Westin Nova Scotian Halifax.
- NOVA SCOTIA | Sampling Halifax.
- REVIEW | VIA Rail Canada night train 15 ‘The Ocean’ from Halifax to Montreal.
- QUEBEC | Meandering Montreal.
- REVIEW | InterContinental Montreal.
- FORMULA 1 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal track walk.
- MONTREAL | Dining solo at Monarque felt like being part of a tv show.
- MONTREAL | Exporail – Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant.
- REVIEW | VIA Rail train Montreal to Toronto in business class.
- ONTARIO | Touring Toronto.
- REVIEW | Little Canada museum in Toronto.
- TORONTO | CN Tower.
- REVIEW | Residence Inn by Marriott Toronto Downtown / Entertainment District.
- CANADA | Train excursion to Niagara Falls.
- THE CANADIAN | Day 1: boarding in Toronto and crossing Ontario.
- THE CANADIAN | Days 2 & 3: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
- THE CANADIAN | From Jasper via the Rocky Mountains to Kamloops and Vancouver.
- Life on board VIA Rail’s The Canadian: eating, sleeping, showering and keeping busy.
- Is the four-day The Canadian night train journey something for you?.
- REVIEW | VIA Rail’s The Canadian four-day night train from Toronto to Vancouver.
- Discovering Vancouver.
- REVIEW | Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront Vancouver.
- BRITISH COLUMBIA | Introduction to Whistler.
- REVIEW | Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre.
- VANCOUVER | Granville Island.
- VANCOUVER | St. Lawrence Restaurant.
- REVIEW | Hotel Belmont M Gallery Vancouver.
- Vancouver & Whistler 2023.
- REVIEW | Lufthansa Premium Economy Vancouver to Frankfurt.
- Flying on a Lufthansa Boeing 747 in economy from Vancouver to Frankfurt.