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Border controls on intra-Schengen flights?

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Old Sep 4, 2011, 11:39 am
  #1  
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Border controls on intra-Schengen flights?

I was shocked out-of-my-skull when I was forced to go through border/passport controls at CDG after an AF flight from BCN. I thought all intra-Schengen flights were exempt from border/passport controls? Is this just CDG? How does one know if border/passport controls will be part of their internal Schengen Area flight?
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 11:50 am
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Originally Posted by canucker
I was shocked out-of-my-skull when I was forced to go through border/passport controls at CDG after an AF flight from BCN. I thought all intra-Schengen flights were exempt from border/passport controls? Is this just CDG? How does one know if border/passport controls will be part of their internal Schengen Area flight?
Not really an expert on Schengen - but I know that countries may, from time to time temporarily re-instate border controls.
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 11:56 am
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Sometimes you have to cross these "border-checks" inside Schengen. Most of the time, they open my passport and look at it for 0.5s and then just hand it back. Not a big deal imho.

I think it's sometimes an effect of how the terminals are used in the airport, more than anything else, but I can't say for sure.
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Old Sep 5, 2011, 12:02 pm
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I assume you did not connect at CDG to another (non-Schengen) destination?
And was the passport check at a normal immigration check point, or was it a spot check after leaving the airplane for instance?
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Old Sep 5, 2011, 2:04 pm
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Thanks for your replies. After flying BCN-CDG, if memory serves correct, all passengers no matter where they were connecting to, had to go through a full immigration process. I was connecting to YUL, so had to change terminal, go through full security checkpoint again as well. Been through CDG a number of times. That will be my last. Refuse to connect through there ever again. Perhaps my first experiences in HKG and SIN this year have shown me what airport connections should be like. CDG is a hell hole. Period. Must be much better airports in Europe to connect through!!?
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Old Sep 5, 2011, 2:53 pm
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Originally Posted by canucker
Been through CDG a number of times. That will be my last. Refuse to connect through there ever again. Perhaps my first experiences in HKG and SIN this year have shown me what airport connections should be like. CDG is a hell hole. Period. Must be much better airports in Europe to connect through!!?
That depends on which global alliance you want to fly with. For *A MUC and ZRH can be rather painless or even downright pleasant.
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Old Sep 5, 2011, 5:33 pm
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Originally Posted by canucker
Perhaps my first experiences in HKG and SIN this year have shown me what airport connections should be like.
SIN will spoil you. You don't really know how bad DHS is until you visit SIN to see how good it can be.
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Old Sep 8, 2011, 2:43 pm
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It sounds like you were going through exit Schengen passport control at CDG which is normal because you were leaving Schengen for Canada.
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Old Sep 8, 2011, 6:41 pm
  #9  
 
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Originally Posted by canucker
After flying BCN-CDG, if memory serves correct, all passengers no matter where they were connecting to, had to go through a full immigration process. I was connecting to YUL, so had to change terminal, go through full security checkpoint again as well.
Did you go through passport control twice at CDG? Unlike Canada, the USA and sometimes the UK, Schengen zone has outbound immigration control.
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Old Sep 9, 2011, 12:32 pm
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Originally Posted by König
Did you go through passport control twice at CDG? Unlike Canada, the USA and sometimes the UK, Schengen zone has outbound immigration control.
I would be surprised if the OP went thru outbound passport control at CDG.

I've never had exit immigration at CDG (only Schengen exit point that I'm aware of without exit controls)
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Old Sep 9, 2011, 10:47 pm
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Originally Posted by alexb133
I would be surprised if the OP went thru outbound passport control at CDG.

I've never had exit immigration at CDG (only Schengen exit point that I'm aware of without exit controls)
I am quite surprised because I remember going through exit immigration controls at CDG. Granted that it's not the airport I fly through often, I checked the terminal maps and was able to confirm that terminals 2C to 3 indeed have exit controls.
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Old Sep 11, 2011, 6:36 am
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Originally Posted by König
I am quite surprised because I remember going through exit immigration controls at CDG. Granted that it's not the airport I fly through often, I checked the terminal maps and was able to confirm that terminals 2C to 3 indeed have exit controls.
Oh ok well maybe that's the reason. I usually fly UA (via IAD), which I believe is T1.
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