Lufthansa is preparing for the return of its popular Oktoberfest flights. Each year the airline goes out of its way to celebrate the enormous festival held at its second major hub, in Munich. While COVID-19 may have stopped the festival for a second year running, it can't stop a party at 30,000 feet, as shown by the German flag carrier.

Oktoberfest is known around the world as the German beer festival. While many try to replicate the festival across Germany and indeed the world, the original is still hosted in Munich, Germany. Each year, Lufthansa makes sure to continue its celebrations which themselves date back to 1957.

Slightly different celebrations

Usually, during September and October, Lufthansa is looking forward to flying passengers to its Munich hub to experience the world-famous Oktoberfest. Sadly, this won't be the case this year, as the festival has been canceled for the second time in a row due to COVID-19 worries.

Despite this, Lufthansa is still doing its bit to keep traditions going. Each year, it will select a group of cabin crew members to make a "Trachtencrew" (Translating to costume crew in English). This crew will function as an ordinary crew, but they will operate their flight wearing traditional Barvarian clothes. For Women, this is the Dirndl, a type of dress, while the men sport Lederhosen or leather trousers in English.

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Each year the airline selects a couple of crews to wear the costumes. Photo: Bernd Gareis via Lufthansa

Each year, the clothes are designed and tailored for Lufthansa by Angermaier, which specializes in Barvarian clothing. Today it was the crew's turn to be fitted in the costumes ahead of the special flights launching next month.

Onboard festivities

The tradition doesn't end with the Tractencrews wearing traditional clothing. The celebrations continue in Munich Airport and onboard select flights. On the flights operated by a Trachtencrew, Barvarian specialties are offered in the business class cabin, in addition to beer. The airline has been known to bring special kegs designed to deal with the aircraft's pressurization onboard.

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Back on the ground, the airline encourages its Munich Airport staff to dress in Dirndls and Lederhosen while the festival is ongoing. In the lounges, many regional specialties are on offer as snacks for those passing through. In 2019 the airline provided 9,000lbs of Leberkäs (meatloaf), 38,000 pretzels, and 1,700 of Weißwurst sausages.

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The tradition dates back to 1957. Photo: Lufthansa

Meanwhile, the airline has special meals for passengers who sit down to dine in a lounge. In 2019, the first class lounge had a traditional soup, followed by farmers’ duck and concluding with homemade apple strudel on offer, while the business class cabin had typical Bavarian dishes such as Leberkäs’, Fleischpflanzerl meatballs, and quark mousse with plum topping.

Are you excited to see Lufthansa continuing its Oktoberfest traditions despite the lack of a festival this year? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!