Mumbai to Frankfurt repatriation flight 02 Aug 2020

Repatriation experience with Lufthansa (BOM - FRA)

Disclaimer: This is completely my personal experience. It may or may not be same for you. If you need any info , please comment and I will update here.

Background for repatriation:  

         Early this year we spent vacation in India so that our minor child can spend time with grandparents and we can relax. Grandparents were supposed to come over, so child stayed back to spend more time and return with them. COVID-19 outbreak brought in travel ban and our minor child got stuck. Every time we hoped, got trampled. Tried with government authorities from both countries but no use. Finally only option was repatriation flight from Germany to India, and get our child back on repatriation flight from India to Germany. I informed my employer about my intention, and also the risk of me staying longer in India due to uncertainty and quick sold out of repatriation flights. I also opted to work from remote, and employer was co-operative. They allowed work from remote during this entire period with a week vacation, as I know my child will not allow me to work once am in front. Here am going to detail out information on my experience on repatriation flight from India to Germany.

 Booking repatriation flight:

        India has an outbreak with daily new cases making new records, and with my experience with travel within India, I know people are neither respecting social distancing nor personal hygiene. Our main concern was to safely bring back our child. Since my parents lived in Mumbai, we opted to book repatriation flights that has direct entry to Germany. Once in Germany, it’s safer to travel by Deutsche Bahn’s ICE trains to our city of residence. Also, it’s safer with an EU flight, so we mentally prepared to wait out till we get a repatriation flight on Lufthansa. On Lufthansa websites the repatriation flight schedule updates were almost for either one or two week slot and hence bleak outlook on schedule. Thankfully there are WhatsApp group created by Samaritan regarding repatriation, where we got very good information such as, to contact Lufthansa customer care (LCC = customersupport.in@dlh.de) for flights that are proposed to DGCA (Indian Government Authorities) for approval. Also, these flights can be booked via LCC. The Pros for such booking is that, you get a cheaper price, whereas, Cons is the risk of not being approved and money gets blocked. We kept a tab on news regarding “Germany & India Air bubble” and also on Air India website for VBM flights with Germany. Once we saw that there are new VBM flights from Germany, we took a calculated risk and booked 02-Aug-2020 LH757 flight on 17-Jul-20. It’s our assumption that flight approvals are mutual reciprocating. We confirmed the flight to LCC, and they asked some passenger personal details (Name, preferred and alternate date of travel, etc.).  They replied with flight cost, which was around ₹34,280 for adult and ₹29,686 for minor child. We sent approval as yes. They did a temporary reservation and gave us booking code, subject to payment within 24hours. A separate email was sent for payment through 3rd party. Again, here we checked with WhatsApp group and got confirmation that this is currently how they are taking bookings. I also checked at Lufthansa website for booking code correctness and was satisfied. Made the payment and sent an email to LCC. They responded with confirmation of receipt of payment. This gave peace of mind.  Later got booking code and eTicket confirmation from Lufthansa. Next, it was fingers crossed and patiently waited for approval. Lufthansa updated next set of repatriation flights on 30th July 😅. We got relief! 

Recommendation: I would recommend to also ask for booking train ticket - “Rail & Fly”?. It is flat €29 and very cheap, from Frankfurt to anywhere in Germany by ICE and let you reserve seat. I forgot this and had to buy separately once I got confirmation of approval of repatriation flight (€80). But, if you want to do a COVID-19 test then need to have time in hand, maybe 3 - 4 hours depending on how many flight land at Frankfurt airport.

As a FYI: Repatriation flight has special restrictions on who are allowed to travel. Please check criteria and also information on upcoming flight schedule on Lufthansa website prior to booking. Link: https://www.lufthansa.com/in/en/flight-information.html

Advance Seat reservation on repatriation flight:

        I tried to book extra services, Seat reservation, for peace of mind, but all side seats cannot be booked. All side seats or middle seats were blocked from purchase. This was tough for me as I had no idea if flight is fully booked then where will my minor child get a seat. So decided to wait for flight check-in.

Baggage policy on repatriation flight:

        Lufthansa Economy Class tickets has standard 1x23kg check-in bag, 1x8kg carry-on bag and 1 slim laptop bag (not backpack). Carry-on bags can be checked in free of cost. Since I was traveling with minor child, I opted to check in carry-on bag and went light to cabin with just slim laptop bag and minor child essentials (spare clothes, diapers, diaper changing matt, wipes, food, medicines, hygiene spray more than 100ml, feeding bottle with water more than 100ml, etc) in a backpack. Please refer to Lufthansa website as it might have changed. Link: https://www.lufthansa.com/in/en/carry-on-baggage

Online Check-in policy on repatriation flight:

        Lufthansa allows online checking earliest 23 hours prior to departure time. I saw many people reported on WhatsApp group facing issue with check-in. Also, my flight departure was at 2:50 AM on 02-Aug-20 meaning online check-in opens at 3:50 AM on 01-Aug-20. Due to odd hour, and many instances of telephone LCC is very long wait period or abrupt call termination, I opted to take help from my wife in Germany to do online check-in, she was able to log in and initiate the process but at end got same issue as others reported. Finally after several attempts and failed call to LCC we settled to do check in at airport counter. If you face similar issue, don’t panic, stay calm and have patience.

D-Day, preparation to travel on repatriation flight:

        Finally the d-day arrived! All packed and ready to go. As a FYI, for safety purpose I bought PPE dress from Germany (DuPont Tyvek 500 Expert @ €7) which is EN 14126 compliant, meaning provides realistic protection against virus. I also got some face shield and N95 masks and disinfection sprays and gloves and hand sanitizer. Coming back to experience. I took photocopies of following documents:

- one copy of Lufthansa flight ticket confirmation 

- two copy of self declaration per passenger (Link: https://www.lufthansa.com/content/dam/lh/documents/SRF_Departure.pdf) Hint: Enter Indian resident address as contact address.

Additionally I also took proof of all documents of my arrival to India via VBM (boarding card) and receipt of paid institutional quarantine and doctor discharge certificate from quarantine, and also a copy of COVID-19 RT-PCR Test Report. The check-in Counter at airport opens 4 hours prior to flight departure time, so for me, the check-in counter would open at 10:50 PM. I calculated that total flights taking off from Mumbai airport was very very less and also traffic condition due to lockdown should be okay. Also, I checked online to book the same flight and showed similar price at time of my booking, meaning total passengers would be around 50%. Had the flight being full, price would have been higher. With this information I planned to be at check-in counter at 2 hours before departure, but due to lot of pressure from parents and wife, had to leave early 😥. There was a concern of getting preferred seat, if reached late. Since me and child wearing PPE dress, had to wear very light comfy T-shirt and shorts (night dress).

Taxi from home to Airport :

        Booked an UberXL and took off for airport. Traffic was as expected, very sparse. Before I went inside the cab, I sprayed entire seating with disinfectant. 

Entering Airport:

        On reaching airport, getting off taxi at Gate 7, few people approached me and asked if I needed porter service. First I asked for price, mentioned ₹750 - 2 big suitcase (Check-ins), 2 carry-ons, 1 backback, 1 laptop bag (not backpack type), one food carrying cotton bag. I happily accepted it. Though pricey but effortless guided entry with new protocol. You need to have the self declaration form, passports, residence card (PR or non-PR); Neither Indemnity and Risk undertaking forms nor Arogya setu app was asked. I did not raise any voice for obvious reasons. First is thermal screening and identity check and temperature is mentioned in the self declaration document. I removed face shield for me for forehead temperature check, for minor child they took temperature from hand (no need to remove face shield). At thermal screening, it’s just body temperature check. Then usual passport & flight ticket check at entry. You have to take off mask and press the passport with data page onto the glass screen of the security. Security once matches your face with passport, you are allowed in. Inside they will check your self declaration document and  passport and visa and let you pass through. Then we moved towards Lufthansa counter.

Check-in at Lufthansa counter:

        There were at least 6 counters open for Economy class passengers, and there almost no wait time, just 3 minutes. I believe this was because of less passengers (not fully booked) and I may have come in early. At check in, 2 check-in bags and 2 carry-on bags were checked in free of cost (Me and minor child). Submitted one self declaration document. 

Security clearance:

        The porter service helped with baggage at check in counter, then carried my carryon bags (laptop bag, food bag, backpack) till security check point and arranged the bags on the conveyor belt of bag screening machine. Porter service ends here. FYI: Laptops & iPads should be outside separately, liquids in ziplock bag separately. There was big (greater than 150ml of disinfectant loosely in a bag (not ziplock) and around 200 ml of water in feeding bottle places on side pocket of backpack. I kept passport and boarding card with me and passed through the body scanner, then my child. Got security check stamped on boarding card. Next went to immigration.

Immigration clearance:

        It was also almost empty so I could directly go to an immigration officer. Had to remove mask for taking picture for me and minor child. After immigration, walked towards Gate. 

Walking towards gate:

        Mostly all shops closed. There was Starbucks open, so got water and my personal order and went straight to gate. At gate it was sparsely occupied. Found a spot, sprayed the disinfectant over two seats and finally seated. 

At Gate:

        Around 13:00 I could see Lufthansa flight taxing towards our gate. There were no passengers coming out from the flight. Sometime later ground staff started distributing PPE kit (PPE dress, Face shield, hand sanitizer, mask); mandatory for all passengers to wear it in order to board. Sometime later I could see Lufthansa crew coming over to Gate and went towards the flight. Looks like, Lufthansa is currently flying empty from Germany to India, and ferrying passengers from India to Germany. 

Boarding:

        Around 14:00 boarding for First Class, Business Class and Wheel chair passengers were asked first to board. Then started Parents with children. Last started with based on seats number, economy class till seat number 28.  I sprayed disinfectant on our seating area and took seat. 

In flight:

        Flight took off on time, after crew ensured that all are wearing PPE dress and mask. After flight reached cruising altitude, meals and drink service started. Meals was sandwich and drinks (limited alcohol drinks). Around 2 hours prior to landing, breakfast was served. For Hindu NV meal, Idli sambhar and upma was served and for standard meal selection, omelette with spinach and sausage with potato gratin was served, along with same for both - bread, butter, fruit platter, yogurt. After breakfast we removed ppe dress and dumped in waste bin of toilet; Not required by law in Germany, so okay, but have to have mask on.

Arrival:

        Prior to landing, an information leaflet in German and English was given. The leaflet mentioned to contact local Gesundheit authorities after reaching final destination in Germany. Also information on how to find contact details is also mentioned; Follow the link and enter your zip code, and you get full contact details (Phone, email, mailing address). Once flight reached at gate, disembarking started in batches. First class, business class were first. Then premium economy and economy seats till 28, and so on.

At Frankfurt Airport:

        After disembarking, follow signs to your next step. Our next step was to catch a train, so go towards baggage claim. We followed the signs and reached passport control. There was just two officers- one at EU passport and another one for all passport. We were first, gave passport and resident card, took mask out to show face. Then moved  on towards baggage claim. Time for Baggage, so quickly changed diaper, then got a trolley and waiting for baggage. After a while baggage started and after getting our baggage went towards long distance train station exiting customs from green zone; Got questioned by customs 🛃 about content but on prompt answering, allowed to exit without check.  Then while walking towards long distance train station there was an escalator downwards, was tough to carry so many baggage and a minor child. Asked my child to take the staircase, and I took escalator with baggage and other baggage in escalator behind me, as there is a chance for baggage to slip from trolley due to 45degree angle tilt. Never the less exited Airport and on way to long distance train station.

At Frankfurt Airport train station:

        En route, just before reaching train station, there are two COVID-19 test centers. One from Centogene (Paid Service) and another from Red Cross (Free) for passengers coming from high risk areas. My wife registered for the free ones for myself and minor child. The queue for Centogene is huge, at least 90 minutes of waiting period. The queue for Red Cross was less as it’s located far end just prior to entering train station and Centogene just after exiting airport. We stood in queue and got our turn within 10minutes. Inside we gave the bar code of registration and received two cards. Then we’re in queue to be tested. In 10minutes our turn came in, got throat swab for me and minor child and then free to go to train station. Report will arrive via email within 24 hours.

Frankfurt to Munich via ICE:

        Embarked our train. Then found our reserved seats were not possible to take as the entire coach (wagon) was cordoned off using red and white tape as climate control was not working.  Kept my baggage in this coach and went to adjacent coach and lucky to find empty seats. Phew! Sprayed disinfectant on our seats and rested.

Arrival at Munich train station:

        Direct train, reached 34 minutes late, was exhausting! Wife came in at train station, was a super exciting moment for all of us, finally reunited!! Booked a minivan using FreeNow app and then exited station to get on to our taxi. Taxi had protection plastic shield between driver and back passenger.

Home sweet home:

        Reached home!!! Sprayed disinfectant on all baggage and on us and on shoe and on floor. Took bath and finally freshened up! 

Germany quarantine rules:

        Germany quarantine rule is, home quarantine for 14 days. This means not going out of home for 14 days. Luckily we got our results from COVID-19 around 9:00 PM. Prepared an email In German, detailing our flight (along with seat number) train (ICE number and coach and seat number) and taxi details (license plate and driver name) along with COVID-19 test report (In English). Sent! Next day around 2:00 PM received an email that we do not need to follow 14 day quarantine! Need to have a copy of email and COVID-19 test results. Local competent public health office (Gesundheitsamt) can be found online here: https://tools.rki.de/plztool/

WhatsApp group chat:

1. https://chat.whatsapp.com/Br89tGXR4NH1doZNs2AbOg

2. https://chat.whatsapp.com/DJgjK9REMFHBBsSXvD2j9I

How to get free COVID-19 test at Frankfurt Airport:

        Please follow below steps:

1. First register your account : COVID-19 Registration Link: https://corona.centogene.com/benutzerverwaltung/registrierung

2. Add details of each person that needs to be tested. Minor child can also be tested.

3. Order new test 

4. Select person from previously added

5. Choose “I am returning from a flight” for a free test

Note: Seat number you need not mention as checkin is not possible. 

Proceed and you should get a bar code (or a QR code). Take print of this and present it at Red Cross for a free COVID-19 test