Connecting Time in Frankfurt
 

I am planning to travel from Colombo to Lyon via Frankfurt in June.

CMB-FRA will be on SriLankan and FRA-LYS on Lufthansa. There is a flight with 1h40m of connecting time in FRA but the travel agent says this might not be enough.

Any idea what the usual connecting time needed for FRA is?

If by any chance I miss the flight due to some reason would Lufthansa be obliged to rebook me on the next flight without any extra fees?


Thanks

Welcome to Flyer Talk lahiruwan :)

Lufthansa's minimum connection time (MCT) for LH-LH at FRA is 1 hour. However for Sri Lankan to Lufthansa the MCT is likely to be longer (for starters I think Sri Lankan uses the other terminal).

If you are on separate tickets then misconnection risk is yours, Lufthansa is under no obligations if you miss your onward flight - ie your ticket may be cancelled (depending on fare rules) requiring purchase of a last minute ticket (at high fares). On separate tickets you are will only be able to check in at Colombo for the flight to Frankfurt and will need to check in for Lufthansa at Frankfurt. Any checked luggage might be able to be through checked for Lyon (assuming Sri Lankan and Lufthansa have interline agreement and 1:40 is above the MCT) or might not.

If you are on a single ticket and 1:40 is above the MCT for Sri Lankan to Lufthansa at Frankfurt, then you will be protected in the event of misconnection. If you are on a single ticket and 1:40 is below the MCT for Sri Lankan to Lufthansa then you should be advised of this fact and will not have protection for misconnection if you insist on those flights.

Personally I'd allow more time and take a later flight to Lyon. Frankfurt is a huge airport and it will take some time to transfer (especially if unfamiliar with the layout as it is rather confusing). You will clear immigration at Frankfurt (whether airside or landside transfer) and a security check (or more than one if navigate the wrong way through the terminals). If you have checked bags and can only check them as far as Frankfurt then you'll need to allow additional time to claim your bags, transfer between terminals landside and then re-check in.

Please continue this discussion in the Germany forum. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
TravelBuzz moderator

If it is on seperate tickets you can checkin for the LH flight 23h prior to departure (of the LH flight) and print your BP online.
This should save you some time, but depending on your luggage situation 1h40m might be a bit risky. If SriLankan will interline your bags you should be fine. If you have to collect them in FRA and re-check them at LH T1 then I would leave more time.

If you travel with carry-on only 1h40m should be just about ok if there are no delays.

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. I have been going through the FlyerTalk forum for quite sometime now but registered only recently.

I will be on a single ticket and will have checked luggage and AFAIK they can be interlined to LYS.

I was advised that the MCT at FRA is 1h30m. However the agent is still advising me to take the next flight. I am reluctant to do that as then my connection time would be 6h20m and I do want to spend that long in the terminal. However I would do this if I have to.

If both flights are on one booking Lufthansa will rebook you to the next availlable flight at no cost if you miss your LH-flight!
MCT is 90 mins in your case so 1h40mins is ok (wouldn´t consider it being very tight unless your incoming flight is more than 30 mins late ! )

Just make sure your luggage is labelled through to LYS !!!
For your luggage 1h40mins is plenty of time !!! Your luggage will go through customs at LYS but you will clear immigration at FRA.

Sri Lankan (UL) and Lufthansa (LH) are both in Terminal 1 (UL in section "B" and LH in section "A") !
The distance you have to walk is limited (from outermost corner at "B" to outermost corner at "A" it´s maximum 700 meters - very unlikely you need to cover that distance) !!!
So, 1h40mins is "easy" even if your inbound flight ex CMB is late up to 30 mins !

Many thanks to all who replied, especially to Kiwi Flyer!

Unfortunately, I will have to get two tickets as Lufthansa and SriLankan don't seem to have any agreement. Therefore I also think its too risky to have a connecting time of 1h40m. So I took the later flight but I dread the 6+ hr wait in FRA.



Lahiruwan

Sorry but you´re not well informed ...

Sri Lankan and Lufthansa have an interline agreement as well as a ticketing agreement !
I just checked with my best friend who runs a corporate travel agency in Munich !
So, there´s no reason not to have it all on one ticket - well, maybe except that it might be more expensive ...

I have a similar question. I will be flying in from MAD to FRA on LAN this summer. I would like to take an airberlin flight that is only 1:00 after the scheduled arrival. Will I have to go through immigration? Will I be able to interline baggage? I noticed both airlines are in terminal 2E.

Thanks.

Nobody seems to know, so I’ll try to help (a bit)...

There are 2 many elements that I don’t know to give you a full answer. But one important element is that your flight, although coming from MAD, is treated as a non-Schengen flight at FRA. This is important for the immigration question.

But you should tell us where you fly on AB (Schengen, non-Schengen) to get a complete answer. And can you get your boarding pass for AB online before leaving MAD?

For the luggage: I know that AB interlines with some companies, although they are a LCC. But I don’t know if they have an agreement with LAN. I would ask LAN about this.

In any case, unless you will have your AB boarding pass + luggage is sent through + you are flying to a non-Schengen country (and therefore no immigration in FRA) this looks like a very tight connection.

I decided to fly LH to TXL in the morning. Is it all MAD flights or just the LAN one that is treated as non-Schengen? Any insights to why?

No, normally MAD-FRA is intra-Schengen. But since this plane (and most of its passengers) actually comes from South America it is treated as non-Schengen. Otherwise all passengers would have to go through immigration in MAD before flying on to FRA.

For you it means that exceptionally you'll have to go through passport control both in MAD and FRA.

Good call...1h40..is next to impossible in that airport if you have to recheck luggage, and if youre not familiar with the layout.

Is the following doable/realistic?

TLV-FRA LH arriving at 20:00
FRA-BRU LH departing 21:15

If there are no delays, than i would say that yes, that is doable.
It is possible in 30 minutes, depending on the gates, but with delays the whole connection breaks down.