Wine-O

I'm pretty airport savvy as I've flown in/out of many European airport, but not Dusseldorf. My brother & his wife have never been to Europe, and they will be meeting us in Munich. They will be flying from Miami on Airberlin, connecting with Airberlin in Dusseldorf for Munich. Their transfer time is 1 hour 20 minutes. I have a few questions I was hoping someone could help me out:

1. Do international flights arrive Terminal C, and domestic flights out of Terminal B?

2. Do you have to go thru Passport Control when you arrive Dusseldorf, then go back thru Security to catch your connecting flight?

3. Is 1 hour 20 min enough time to do all this and will the luggage make the transfer?

4. What problems might they encounter?

Thanks for your help.

rotanes

This is copied from the airberlin website.
And 1h20m is more than enough, assuming no flight delays.

Transferring from a long-haul to a short-haul flight:
When you have gone through passport control, just follow the signs for "Departures B". You will not be leaving the customs area. Nevertheless, you will need to observe the regulations for carrying liquids in your cabin baggage, as another security check will be required on entry into an EU country. Passengers already in possession of their boarding pass for the connecting flight can go straight to their departure gate. Passengers without a boarding pass for their connecting flight should contact the airberlin transfer counter in Arrivals C, after passport control, or in Departures B, after the security check E1.

http://www.airberlin.com/site/airpor...ng&checkNavi=1

Wine-O

Thanks for your response. I know what the website says -- just curious what the reality is. I had a horrible experience at Frankfurt. It was a zoo changing terminals, transitting the tunnel, thru the mob at security, running to the gate only to find out I just made the last shuttle to be bussed out onto the tarmac with a short connection.

I know Dusseldorf isn't the size of Frankfurt, but I would like to get a feeling from someone who's been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

flyingfkb

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Definitely

4. None

Flying Lawyer

Agreed. And the two "terminals" (better: piers) are no more than 150 meters from each other.

Wine-O

Thank you all.

corbs315

This seemed like an appropriate thread to ask my question too...

I just booked a ticket on Lufthansa using Continental miles. I'm booked in business class to return from Berlin to Houston in July via:
TXL > DUS > EWR > IAH.

My layover in Dusseldorf will only be 55 minutes. Will this be doable? What kind of security should I expect since I'm only going from short- to long-haul?

supermasterphil

55 minutes should be no problem if your inbound is on time. The flight to the States leaves from one of the neighboring gates. You will go through emigration in DUS though (less then 5 minutes) and likely no additional security check. (the one in TXL is sufficient)

Flying Lawyer

No worries. Today a bunch of people made it from a delayed TXL - DUS flight to their Miami flight in less than 10 minutes. The distance from your arrival gate to your departure gate is between 100 and 30 meters and emigration in Düsseldorf takes 5 to 10 minutes.

Wine-O

Just a little feedback about DUS transfer coming in from an International flight. Once we got off the plane (Terminal C), it was a hike to Immigration. No escalators, lots of stairs, and didn't notice or look for elevators. Got thru Immigration, then back thru security. Don't have any liquids with you. Short walk from there to Terminal B.

It was a 2-hour connection, and no problems. We were 1/2 hour early.

My brother on the other hand with a 1 hr 20 min connection had some problems, but made his connection. His flight was 1/2 hour late. He was seated in the back of the plane and by the time he got off and to the Immigration area, it was a zoo. Then thru security and to his gate. They must have held the flight for him as it departed 15 minutes late, and he was the last person to board. Thought he was going to miss his flight. I think what saved him is that he stopped by the Airberlin transfer center, and they must have called ahead to hold up the plane. They even asked about his luggage, which also made the flight. Close call, but it worked out.

FLLDL

Hello,

I will be arriving at DUS on LH, transferring to TK for a flight to Istanbul. I have never been through any DUS terminal other than A (Lufthansa), but it appears that TK operates from the C terminal.

I have 2 hours connecting time and I am traveling in business class on both flights, so should be first off the plane. Based on this thread, this seems like plenty of time, but if anyone has any experience connecting from A to C let me know if I am overlooking any issues.

Flying Lawyer

No problem at all. This is plenty of time

FLLDL

Thank you for your help.

And I will post feedback about my experience later in case others may find this information of use.

FLLDL

My experience at DUS went very smoothly.

My flight was about 30 minutes late arriving so layover was cut down to 90 mins. LH was not able to issue a boarding pass for the TK flight at origin, so I needed to get a BP during my connection.

Making the connection from terminal A to terminal C involved clearing entry immigration upon arrival, exiting A and finding the TK desk to issue BP, clearing security to enter C and clearing exit immigration for my flight out of Schengen area. Was able to do all of this with probably 30 minutes to spare.

Entry immigration was very quick, exit immigration was a bit of a mess.

Not quite as easy as the all-LH connections I've had at DUS in the past, which can be done in about 5 minutes, but still very easy due to the compact size of the airport. Much preferable than making a similar non-Schengen connection at FRA where there is seemingly no rhyme or reason to anything.

sandinmyjoints

Hello,

I'm trying to decide if a 45 minute connection at DUS enroute from ZRH to JFK is possible or not. Our first flight lands at 16:15 and the second one departs at 17:00. This will be in June. We're US citizens, so it sounds like we'd have to go from Schengen arrivals (since Switzerland is Schengen) to non-Schengen departures. It also sounds like we'd have to clear customs to leave the arrivals area, then go through security again to get to the departures area. Can anyone confirm, or correct me if I'm wrong?

The information in this thread has all been very helpful. It sounds as if there is a consensus that if we politely but firmly get ourselves to the front of the queues, we will probably make it. Does anyone have experience with Air Berlin's missed connections policy, in case we don't make it?

Thanks!