Lufthansa to L.A.

Lufthansa Boeing 707

Today it is time for another post in the travel section, this time covering Lufthansa, the German airline founded in 1926. Bond, posing as diamond smuggler Peter Franks, travels to L.A. along with Tiffany Case in Diamonds are forever. Bond and Tiffany chose Lufthansa Business class for their trip from Amsterdam across the pond. Mr Wint and Mr Kidd are also on the same plane, but unlike Bond and Tiffany they fly economy class. The flight number called out onboard by the stewardess is LH450 to Los Angeles. Thanks to one of the readers on this blog we know that the airplane seen in the film is a Lufthansa Boeing 707-330B with the tail number D-ABUL, named "Duisburg". All Lufthansa jets are named after large German towns.

Bond is arriving at LAX and the famous theme building, the landmark of Los Angeles international airport is visible in the background. The plane featured in the film is a Boeing 707-320 or 420, an airplane that was normally used for long-haul flights at the time.

"-You wanna sit in the front Mr Franks?
         -It's a lot smoother ride in the front Mr Franks!
-Yes I believe I'll sit in front..."

Despite the fact that Bond meets with Leiter in the US customs building the Lufthansa Cargo logo is visible on several places both in- and outside when Bond picks up the coffin with the real Peter Franks. Lufthansa does not receive any recognition in the end credits but imdb.com lists Lufthansa as one of the product placements or movie tie-ins for the film, even though I have never seen any commercials or ads connecting Bond with the airline.

Why Lufthansa was Bond's choice of airline is unknown. It would have been more appropriate for Bond to fly with the Dutch airline, KLM, or Pan Am which had already been used two times before. However, apparently neither KLM nor Pan Am flew to Los Angeles from Amsterdam in 1971, but Lufthansa did. That flight originated in Frankfurt and made a stop in Amsterdam before continuing across the pond. It is not possible, even today, to fly with Lufthansa from Amsterdam to L.A. The only non-stop Lufthansa flight from Europe to L.A. departs from Frankfurt.

A Lufthansa catering truck at Amsterdam (Frankfurt?) airport

The scenes were Franks' coffin is put in the airplane was shot at Frankfurt Airport since this airport is listed at imdb.com as a filming location. A Lufthansa catering truck is visible in the background.

The airline has never been seen or mentioned again in the series.


Nu tar vi helg och firar en avslutad femte termin!
Hear hear!