Deborah_Reilly

We have 55 minute layover in Munich (arriving from Newark) and understand we go through passport control again in Munich - will we make our flight?

Alec

If you are coming on a Star Alliance flight connecting to another *A flight, then you stay in the same terminal. You go through passport control if your destination is in Schengen, and also security check. Passport lines are usually short, so you are through in minutes. They are also efficient in security, so it shouldn't delay you. Your connecting flight is on the same level, just walk or use travelator to your gate. Munich is an efficient airport, and if your incoming flight is delayed, they will escort you through security and sometimes hold your next flight (within reason). They are also efficient in transferring luggage. So normally 55 min is enough for a connection.

nytraveler

Don;t understand what you mean about go through passport control again in Munich. are you landing someplace else in europe first where you will be going through passport control?

If not, then Munich is the first time you go through passport control.

If it were me I wold want more time - but I am risk averse - especially where planes are concerned.

flanneruk

I've twice recently been through Munich on a Star Alliance flight which arrived late for a tight connection.

In each case, my neurosis was then made worse by a lengthy (couple of miles, driven slowly) bus ride from the arriving plane to the terminal, then made worse still by passport controls unnecessary elsewhere (Germany checks passports on passengers leaving Schengen as well as on those arriving).

We made both connections effortlessly. And the neurosis was doubly unnecessary. On a through booked Star Alliance ticket, they'd have just booked us onto the next available flight if we had been late. And Munich airport has the best beer & sausage joints of any airport in the world to while away the couple of hours.

If a real airline tells you it's a legal connection AND if the journey's booked on one ticket, a disturbingly tight connection at an intervening airport is their problem, not yours.

If it's a third party booking engine, like Expedia, recommending a worrying connection, though, fuggedaboutit. They take no responsibility for missed connections. Note the airline, then see if you can get the airline itself to match the price, more or less.

Whether the connection is one hour or five, screw ups along the way are always possible. You need the insurance of a through-booked ticket far more than the views of strangers on a website who usually tell you more about their emotions than real data to base a travel decision on.

Deborah_Reilly

Thanks to all replies!

doug_stallings

Munich is a pretty small airport and connections are easy (albeit often with a bus ride from the plane to the terminal, particularly if you are flying one of those small regional jets). But you do NOT go through security again unless you are changing terminals. It's just a passport check, and that's pretty fast. Granted, though, it's more difficult if you are flying something other than Star Alliance.

Plus there's free coffee, newspapers, and Wi-Fi in the Star Alliance terminal.

As long as your flights aren't unreasonably delayed, you should be fine.