How vast a difference can there be between business class on a long haul flight and a European short hop?

This can be illustrated by the German airline Condor.

I describe how great the long-haul flight was in an Airbus A330-900or in my review of business class with a Prime Seat attached.

Buying business class

The Airbus A320 flight between Frankfurt FRA and Prague PRG was part of a long-haul trip from Johannesburg to Prague.

The total one-way ticket cost 1 000 eur (+ 199 eur for the Prime Seat).

If I wanted to buy a one-way ticket purely between Frankfurt and Prague, usually the business class price is around 340 eur.

Check business class prices at condor.com

• Itinerary: Frankfurt FRA - Prague PRG
• Flight time: 50 minutes
• Seat: 4F
• Aircraft: Airbus A320, D-AICT (blue stripes)

Connecting lounge

Business class passengers with Condor can use any Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt for free.

I used the standard Lufthansa Business Lounge at departure gate "A".

The Lufthansa lounges in Schengen are rather below average in terms of food and space. In addition, they tend to be extremely crowded at peak times (especially in the morning and early evening).

• Tip: do you have a night connection in Frankfurt? Stay at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel **** directly opposite the terminal.

Boarding - no priority boarding

While boarding on the previous flight from Johannesburg was completely separate for economy and business class passengers, there was no priority boarding in Frankfurt.

Boarding began without prior proper announcements on a first-come, first-served basis.

I wouldn't have expected that in Germany, but whatever. There are worse things in the world.

Cabin and seats - lowcost business class

I'm resigned to the fact that passengers won't encounter real business class seats on flights in Europe.

But while most other airlines have at least a curtain to visually separate business from economy class, this is not the case on Condor planes.

There is no curtain or other visual separation of the cabin between the 4th and 5th rows that divide the two classes.

The business class seats are exactly the same as the economy class seats. Even the spacing is no greater than in economy class.

The business class seats are not adjustable in any way - the backrest cannot be reclined an inch!

The only difference is the blocked middle seat, which always remains unoccupied. But while on other airlines this seat is physically blocked by, for example, a table, on Conodor it is only a cushion.

Now that's real low-cost business!

In-flight refreshments

The only advantage over flying in economy class is the food.

You get this for free in business class even on a short flight like Frankfurt-Prague.

This is a lunch flight and I get a sandwich with roast-beef first (no other option) and a soft drink (I choose water only).

After the "main meal" we still get two chocolate truffles, absolutely fabulous, it must be said!

Other services on board

And that's it.

On European flights, there are no other services available for business class passengers apart from refreshments.

Wi-fi is charged the same as in economy class.

The only slight difference is that you automatically get a free refreshing napkin with your meal.

Plus, of course, you have a higher weight limit - you can carry up to 30 kg of luggage for free.

You can find out what the baggage limits are in other classes and what the maximum dimensions of hand luggage are on our Condor baggage page.

My rating

For a price that's usually 3-5 times higher than economy class, realistically you only get the extra checked baggage included, a baguette, a drink and an airport lounge.

I'll leave it up to each of you to judge whether it makes sense to buy business class on Condor for European flights only.

I certainly wouldn't buy such a flight.

However, I think the vast majority of my business class fellow passengers on the Frankfurt to Prague flight, like me, were flying long haul and this flight was just a follow-up short hop.

And buying a long-haul flight in business class definitely makes sense already, as you can see in my review of the JNB-FRA flight.

Search for a business class flight on condor.com