JBord

The long walks, and often long lines, when connecting in FRA from the US is the worst part. There are lots of huge airports but this is the only one where I worry about transfer times of <2 hours. And I'd agree with you it's otherwise well-run. Honestly though, because of my first sentence, it's normally the last resort among EU airports for me.

LondonElite

What 'lesser airports' did you have in mind? How would that improve shorthaul to longhaul connections or v/v?

offerendum

SunshineStay

I always find complaints from American passengers about the connection experience in FRA so funny.

What happens in FRA is so much more orderly, so much faster and so much less of a hassle than what is happening at large US airports I've been to (JFK, IAD, IAH, ATL) when it comes to immigration, walking times, remote landing locations, etc., that it isn't even funny.

Boraxo

Can't speak to JFK and ATL (I prefer not to accumulate DL skypesos) but I often do international <-> domestic connection at IAH and find it far easier to navigate than FRA.For starters I've never had to use stairs to a tarmac bus at IAH which is almost always the case for me when arriving at FRA. Yes you have to navigate immigration & customs but this normally takes me <5 minutes thanks to Global Entry. I would say the security lines (and limited precheck hours) are my biggest complaint at IAH but even the regular process was far easier (usually 1-5 minutes) than my last experiences at FRA and LHR where the lines can be long and security people are apparently working on commission. Even with a hike I can easily be at my connecting gate within 30 minutes of exiting the plane at IAH. That is a rarity at FRA thanks to the ridiculous hikes and tarmac buses. All that being said I would prefer FRA to LHR as the lounges are nicer, gate concessions are better, and I despise the automated conformance gates that BA uses.

JBord

ATL and IAD in particular can have some long walks. But the transfers at FRA, from beginning to end, are much longer in my experience. You'll never have a remote gate where you have to wait for the bus, then take a 6-7 min bus ride, just to get to a terminal with the long walk awaiting. I've also run into long lines entering the EU from the US at FRA, worse than other EU airports. I've had to run to not miss my flight at FRA with nearly a 2 hour connection time (landing on time). I'm sure a non-US citizen entering the US has similar experiences at some of the major airports, but I haven't because I get back into the US with Global Entry.

So, there is some justification, from an American point of view, of FRA being one of the worst airports for connections. Everything is about perspective when you're dealing with international connections.

oliver2002

Try transiting IAD as non-US citizen. Deplane, take mobile lounge to midfield FIS, which waits till the last passenger shows up. Go thru immigration in the midfield FIS, which can take upto an hour, then wait 15-45min at security after rechecking luggage. God help you if you don't have a connection to UA, there you have to pass immigration in the main buidling and get the run around.

On a simple T1-T4 transit in JFK.

The usual whine of non-Europeans is the terrible bussing from the outside apron positions. Airports and airlines like it because it enables them to turn single aisle aircraft around in under 25 minutes. Yes you have to potentially squeeze yourself into a bus and maybe breathe fresh air for a moment. OTOH waiting for a gate in an US airport is not uncommon, nor is the issue of being pushed out of a gate asap to free the gate for other incoming aircraft....

SunshineStay

I have waited at immigration in IAH for 2.5 hours. It would have taken longer, had I not insisted on being put to the front of the queue so that I could catch my connecting flight to FRA. Because I still had to pick up my luggage in IAH and drop it off 30 meters farther away just 30 minutes before take-off, it got conveniently dropped from my flight back to FRA.

Also try immigration in JFK without Global Entry, where you have to stand still in a bunker basement for often more than 2 hours, all the while being closely watched by border patrol agents that you don't use your smartphone. Heaven forbid that you surf a little bit on the internet or check some emails so that you actually do something productive with your wait time.

Juju2014

I actually like the walking; less so the long lines, but have only experienced them occasionally at FRA. I agree that you need 90 minutes to be safe with a transfer. However, and this is a big one for me, if you miss your flight, your chances of getting to your destination on time/at a reasonable hour are much higher than from most other European airports. I'll take FRA over VIE any time for example, (no power outlets, drab terminal, limited food choices at VIE). And perhaps this crowd isn't flying through CDG regularly, but let me reassure you that FRA is a pristine spa compared to CDG. Of course everyone would rather fly through MUC instead but sometimes it's not possible. In my case, it's often a matter of FRA v IST or DOH and for me it's no contest in terms of overall convenience and confidence in the operators. Finally, there is some spectacular plane watching to be done at FRA, near the low-numbered A gates, if I recall.

Antonio8069

Err, HHN:
https://www.hahn-airport.de/default.aspx?cc=en

Ever been to Stanstead?

Sunshine Stays comment is equally absurd. American? Can't you read??

I had a good on time experience yesterday HAM-MUC. Turns out HAM is Germany's 2nd largest city (1.8 million). Frankfurt has 733,000. MUC has 1.5 million. So FRA is much more important for cnx. than o&d traffic i.e. transit times into the city center are irrelevant for most passengers transiting FRA. What matters is fewer IROPPS. Is the weather any better @ FRA than HAM? i doubt it. So my point stands..............why doesn't the Deutsch Airport Authority develop better cnx. facilities at FRA? London has done so. Why is Germany so anemic?

offerendum

Hahn is not in Frankfurt and I doubt one flight was or will be moved from FRA to HHN. HHN is only used by Ryanair, Wizz and Sun Express..... Connecting FRA to HHN would be more than terrible. Not a good idea.

@ FRA I think inter-Schengen connections are much more easy than connections at LHR.

AlwaysFlyStar

I'm confused. So you are saying that most passengers are connecting, therefore they should spread the flights between multiple airports? If everybody is connecting, then this makes far less sense. It is not particularly convenient to get between FRA and HHN...

offerendum

P.S. Antonio8069 one thing is not valid in your post. It is correct that HAM and MUC are much bigger from the point of citizens than FRA. But that doesn´t mean much regarding an airport. If you see economy figures it´s another thing, FRA is indeed one of the economic centres of Germany. Also you must see the whole region. Near HAM for excample are not many big cities, Bremen and Hannover are the nearest (120 and 150 km) bigger cities with both over 500 T citizens but also own airports. In the Rhein-Main Region alone there are around 5,6 million citizens. Metropolenregion Hamburg is 5,3 million citizens if you like to compare.P.S. I found a statistic. 60,6 % of the passengers were transit-passengers in 2016. https://www.fraport.de/content/frapo...cht-2016-3.pdf MUC were 36 %. So yes, it´s a Hub. If you consider that FRA hat nearly 65 Million passengers a year, MUC around 44,5 million and HAM only 17,5 Million the number of "local passengers" or originär passengers are still higher in FRA.

LondonElite

I don't think you really know what you are talking about, with respect.

Hahn is nowhere near Frankfurt. You'd have a very long and expensive commute to FRA. There are some Ryanair passengers who learned this the hard way some years ago!

FRA is indeed a very important airport for connections. No one would connect between Hahn and FRA, it makes no sense. Equally, no one connects between Heathrow and either Stansted or Luton. Connecting at FRA is much easier than at LHR. I have lived in London and I now live in Germany. Trust me, I know. MUC is even easier and better than FRA.

Your point on weather is not really relevant. There are no significant differences across Germany. MUC in fact probably gets more snow than any other airport. Finally, the point on population is not meaningful. This is because Germany is reasonably evenly populated and has many hubs. It is a 'federal' kind of place. Atlanta is the busiest airport in the US but nowhere near its largest city. JFK has very little connecting traffic. Just sayin.

SunshineStay

Thanks LondonElite for saying all of the things that I was too lazy to type in.