Munich Fun
This is a bit of a rant, but also a heads up if traveling from Munich. This past weekend, we were departing from Munich, and Delta has a 3 hour recommended arrival prior to departure as most international destinations have. We arrived 3.5 hours prior to the 11am departure.
The Delta check in line moved well, not a problem at all, then we headed for the departing passport control. It is hard to describe the chaos. Only two passport officials manning the booths,(there is space for at least 6 passport officials) and there were multiple widebody scheduled departures to various places. Many passengers were trying to cut lines because they were missing their flights, causing the line to back up even further, and once you were able to exit the passport check, another backup for individual security. When we finally made it to our mobile "bus gate", the flight was boarding. Overheard a passenger on our flight comment to gate agent about the passport control situation, and they indicated that this has been a common occurence.
We have been through Munich several times in the past, so I was a little familiar with the airport, so while we standing in the never ending or moving passport line, I checked out other possible passport control lines in other areas of the terminal to see if we could bypass the "cluster". They were all bad. Munich gets accolades on what a fine airport it is. The accolades must be for terminal 2, not terminal 1 which Delta uses.
So in summary, arrived on the S Bahn at 0737, arrived at our mobile boarding gate at 1015, and immediately boarded the bus to be shuttled to our plane. Did nothing but stand in lines the entire time. So, my advice, based on this recent experience, arrive at least 3 hours as recommended, 4 hours if you want coffee.