For the past six years, in the run-up to the Oktoberfest, a special Lufthansa crew has taken off from Munich dressed in the traditional Bavarian style. This time around, the 14-strong inflight team will be heading for three destinations. The first flight, on 13 September, will take them to San Francisco. On 22 September, they will depart for Montreal, and on 28 September for São Paolo. Until 2 October, which marks the end of the famous beer festival, the traditional-look Lufthansa crew will bring a touch of Bavaria to selected international flights. “Year after year the response from our customers has been overwhelming,” says Thomas Klühr, Group Representative and Head of Hub Management Munich. “That alone is incentive enough for us to take up the Oktoberfest theme on board and in our passenger service.”
As last year, the traditional Bavarian costumes worn by the crew will be supplied by the established outfitters Loden-Frey. The dirndl designed for the flight attendants reflects Lufthansa’s corporate colours – blue and yellow. The bodice and skirt are royal blue, while the yellow apron has a delicate pattern with white flower chains. Male flight attendants will wear traditional Bavarian suits with a tie that tones in with their colleagues’ dirndls.
During the Oktoberfest, “white and blue” – the traditional Bavarian colours – will also be the colour theme on all long-haul Lufthansa flights to and from Munich. Passengers travelling in First Class will be offered a traditional Oktoberfest menu including Munich white sausage terrine and other Bavarian specialities. To accompany their meal, passengers can request a glass of the renowned Oktoberfest beer. Traditional Bavarian delicacies will also be served in Business and Economy Class. Meanwhile, on the audio channel, a special programme will be devoted to Bavarian music to get passengers into the swing of what is known in Bavaria as the “fifth” season of the year.
During the Oktoberfest, Lufthansa staff involved in customer services are allowed to wear their own traditional Bavarian dress to work. Furthermore, in cooperation with Loden-Frey and the specialist outfitters Trachtenhaus Jäger in Miesbach, tailor-made dirndls in blue and white and traditional men’s suits will be provided for Lufthansa’s ground staff at Munich.
It is now more than 50 years since Lufthansa flight attendants first exchanged their uniforms for traditional Bavarian costumes. In 1957, the airline reported: “During the Oktoberfest, Lufthansa stewardesses dressed in dirndls will be attending to the needs of passengers on flights from New York to Hamburg between 17 September and 2 October, and on flights from London to Munich between 21 September and 2 October.” On those routes, blonde flight attendants wore pale-blue dirndls, while their dark-haired colleagues were dressed in pink.
