Photo tour: Lufthansa

Most international airlines have first class lounges, but at their home base in Frankfurt, Lufthansa goes one better with an entire terminal dedicated to passengers flying in first class.

David Parker Brown, from AirlineReporter, snapped these shots of the terminal as part of a tour surrounding Lufthansa's recent launch of its Airbus A380 and offered to share them with Australian Business Traveller readers.

The only way to gain access to the First Class Terminal is to have a First Class ticket or to belong to the top-tier HON Circle in Lufthansa's Miles & More frequent flyer program. (Which means being a very frequent flyer, to the tune of 600,000 miles across two calendar years).

Despite those elite entry rules, between 200-300 passengers pass through the First Class Terminal each day.

The restaurant is on par with what you'd expect at the world's best first class lounges...

... but the bar, which stocks 86 different kinds of whiskey, is something else again!

Here's another rare sight at an airline lounge: a separate cigar lounge, with over a dozen varieties in a humidor plus a second bar so you can choose the right spirits or mix the perfect cocktail to go with your smoke.

Next on the to-do list for the A-grade traveller? How about a long soak in the tub at one of the terminal's bath rooms.

Rubber ducky included, of course.

You can also seek some solitude in these private cabana-style rooms.

And when it's time to board your flight, forget about waiting at the gate. You'll be chauffeur-driven onto the tarmac and right up to the plane's first-class stairway in  a Mercedes S500, Porsche Panamera or Porsche Cayenne.

It's all incredibly swish – but then, what would you expect from the same airline that won an award for the spacious high-style first-class toilet on board its A380?

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.