AA 198 JFK - MXP arrives at MXP Gate 513.
I have searched the MXP Gate Map and do not see a Gate 513.
Anyone know if this is an actual "pull up" gate or a tarmac / bus in situation?

Many Thanks

As this question is more about Malpensa Airport than American Airlines, I'm shifting this thread over to the Italy forum for discussion by the experts there.

~Microwave
AAdvantage forum co-moderator

I don't think it is possible to know the landing gate in advance. Are you up in the air, approaching the airport? In Italy they don't post departure gate information until about 20 minutes before boarding. They don't post the arrival gate days before you depart from JFK.

For some reason, MXP uses 3 digit gate numbers. Some are regular gates, others are just parking spots for the plane, where you have to take a bus, because they don't have enough gates. I don't believe that even the pilot will know where the landing spot will be before the trip.

I take AA to MXP several times a year and it's almost always a pull-up gate; it's about a five to ten minute walk to the passport control and then to the baggage claim and customs check.

As Perche noted there is some randomness; you can see the list of arriving planes here and there is no indication of gates: http://www.airportmalpensa.com/arrivals.php

I have checked AA.com flight status for AA 198 arriving MXP and also the flight arriving from MIA and they both seem to pull into 512 or 513....which I suspect is a tarmac/bus transfer to the terminal as they also post the taxing as 19-23 minutes....while other airlines are pulling up to gates in 5-9 minutes

12-15 additional taxiing time? That doesn't sound like a tarmac position but like another reason: given an average speed of ~20 mph that would be almost 5 miles, or way outside the actual airport.

Question: why do you care so much about the gate?

Got a tight connection downtown at Milano Centrale --- need every spare minute possible .....

AA most definitely will use one of the gates in the C satellite, usually B49 or B50. From the edge of the jetty to the baggage carousel is about 15-20 minutes at a brisk pace, but the time might be considerably lengthened if you hit queues at passport control.

From touchdown on the runway - southern approach, as it's done in 90% of cases - to the stand it's about 5/10 minutes of taxiing.

It's not clear how tight the connection is, what passport you have, whether or not you are eligible for fast track, and how bad the missed connection would be for you. Sometimes, it is just waiting an hour or two for the next flight, sometimes it means missing a critical meeting and staying at a hotel overnight.

Without knowing that much about what you are facing, two options might be worthy of consideration is using the Malpensa VIP service. In addition to other services that you probably won't need, they will fast track you through security and passport control, and sometimes take you to the plane in a private vehicle, rather than waiting for a bus.

There is also a service at MXP called ViaMilano. If you don't have Fast Track, you can purchase it from them, and depending on your specific condition, might be eligible to get it for free. If you have a legal connection and miss your flight, they will insure it for free by booking you on another flight with much less hassle than doing it on your own. Depending on your situation, they will reimburse you for taxis, meals, hotels, extra costs due to re-routing, or even refund your ticket if that is what you need. Most of their services are free, provided by the Milan Airport Authority (both Malpensa and Linate).

Depending on your circumstances, you might want to look at MXP VIP services, and ViaMilano, to see if they may suit you.