Aliens Over Hannover

One of the strangest places we’ve ever been. Karl Jatho Lounge. Hannover airport. Named after a German inventor and aviation pioneer. Home of the chicken dogs…

But we’re jumping ahead. For 2 years we went to Bremerhaven every month for meetings at the ship yard. The travel became an odd routine. You’d be flying in either via Hamburg or Hannover. In Hamburg you’d be crossing the city to get to the airport, so when you’d be flying in the evening you’d inevitably hit the rush hour. Which means, Hannover was the better choice. Travel from Bremerhaven took roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours. Limousine picked us up straight from the yard.

Hannover airport isn’t super busy but it’s a bit of an odd airport. One of the unusual features was the fact that the lounge was outside security, so you always had to keep that in mind. Also, the BA app was usually more reliable than the information at the airport. It’s a bit funny when you hear ‘last call’, but you look out of the window and realise that the incoming flight hasn’t even arrived… Catering was the other memorable aspect. Particularly the potato salad that you’d have to kneel for, as it was in the lowest shelf of the fridge. And the chicken dogs…. kind of wonderfully bland sausages that perfectly disguised any trace of what meat they could have been made from…. you know. Everything tastes like chicken…

Certainly not the most amazing airport lounge in the world. But at the end of 2 days of non-stop meetings and 2 hours on the Autobahn, there was certainly some comfort in having a beer and a chicken dog with Karl Jetho.