In these difficult times, a bit of light relief in the form of laughter can go a long way. German flag carrier Lufthansa provided this when, in January 2021, a video of a particularly amusing flight announcement began circulating. But what is the story of flight LH2222? And where else in the airline industry can one come across other comical flight numbers?
Going viral
The story of this funny flight number seemed to begin in January 2021. This was when Twitter user Steven shared the video in the tweet below. In it, we can hear an automated voice requesting passengers on "flight LH2222, to Toulouse, to proceed to gate K1." This bizarre phonetic sequence is greeted by laughter from passengers.
At the time of writing, the video had received over half a million views. However, while video evidence of the amusingly-numbered flight has only recently gone viral, it seems that it has been an established part of Lufthansa's European network from Munich for many years.
Indeed, a quick search on Twitter will show that users have been picking up on this quirky service since 2014. Some users believe it to be deliberate, with one citing it as evidence that "Germans do have humor." Do you think the number is just a coincidence, or rather a clever and deliberate ploy to raise a few chuckles at Munich's gates?
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The flight in question
However, it is interesting that the video surfaced when it did, as the flight had not operated for some time. Indeed, according to the flight-tracking website RadarBox.com, flight LH2222 last flew from Munich to Toulouse on November 5th, 2020. The service resumed in March 2021.
Departure from Munich is timed for 20:20, with a scheduled arrival time of 22:10. Perhaps some passengers secretly hope for a 12-minute delay, if only so flight LH2222 could arrive at 22:22! On February 27th, 2020, an 11-minute delay meant that this was missed by the agonizing margin of a single minute.
The flight is generally operated by a 79-seat (11 business & 68 economy) Bombardier CRJ-900. The German flag carrier's regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline operates 35 of these aircraft, according to Planespotters.net.
Data from RadarBox.com also shows that Lufthansa has also previously deployed aircraft from the Airbus A320 family on this flight. In January 2021, the German flag carrier celebrated five years of operating the A320neo.
This flight number has also been used for other services, including Frankfurt-Bilbao, Frankfurt-Berlin, and even the return Toulouse-Munich leg. However, none are quite as comical as the phonetically-amusing flight LH2222 to Toulouse.
Other special numbers
Michael Scott from The Office (US) famously said "I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious." Appealing to this sort of humor, Finnair has previously used a strangely-numbered flight from Denmark to Finland.
One of its services from Copenhagen used to fly to the Finnish capital of Hel(l)sinki under the number AY666. It altered this service in 2017, after 11 years, but not before it had been operated 21 times on Friday 13th, to add another layer of superstition.
Fans of Disney Pixar's 2001 animated classic Monsters, Inc. might appreciate American Airlines' service from Charlotte to Austin. This is designated as AA2319, with this number also being a coded phrase in the film for contamination incidents between the monster and human worlds.
Special flight numbers can also be used to mark aircraft retirements. An example of these was British Airways flight BA747 in December 2020. This saw the airline's final 'Queen of the Skies' fly from the Welsh capital of Cardiff to nearby St Athan. In the process, it made a heart shape in the skies over the Bristol Channel with its flight path.
Did you know about Lufthansa flight LH2222 to Toulouse? What other amusingly-numbered flights have you come across? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!