janewb

In January I booked a flight on May 14 from Hartford to Paris via Amsterdam on Northwest. At that time and according to my receipt, the flight leaves Hartford at 5:35PM and would arrive in Amsterdam at 6:35 AM. The NWA website now shows the arrival time in Amsterdam is 6:55, but it still leaves Hartford at the same time.

My flight for Paris leaves at 9:00. I'm told that shouldn't be an issue, but does anyone have any idea why the arrival time would change, but the departure time didn't?

janewb

Correction to my post above - my flight for Paris leaves at 8:00.

rkkwan

Why? Two factors:

1. When they original set the schedule, they probably thought there would be minimal delay in departure at BDL, but they probably found out 7:00 is not enough, so they added back 20 minutes.

[For comparison, BOS-AMS on the 757 is also scheduled for 7:20, while the A330 is 7:10.

From JFK, KL schedules the faster 777 for 7:35, the even faster and later 747 for 7:25; while Delta schedule for 7:45.

From Montreal YUL, which is similar distance as BOS, KL schedule their MD-11 for only 6:40!]

2. With the current oil prices, airlines have been looking at all ways to cut down on fuel use. One method is to slow the planes down. That may add 5-6 minutes of flight time on a 7-hour flight.

janewb

Thanks for the info. Do you think I'll have any problem making my connection? If so, would they be required to book me on a later flight?

rkkwan

KL and AF has plenty of flights AMS-CDG. If you miss your connection, they'll put you on the next flight. And chances are you can still make it.

janewb

Thanks again rkkwan.

Also, I asked this once a while back and just want to confirm (again). In AMS I go thru immigration and security, no customs?

Will my luggage make it with 1 hour?

I travel all the time in the U.S. and never fret about this stuff, but going out of the country I keep thinking it will all be "foreign" to me...

rkkwan

Correct.

Chances are your bags will make it. If not, then they'll be on the next flight. It's no difference when you're connecting in the US. The key is that there are plenty of flights AMS-CDG.

It's hard to predict how much time you actually have for your connection. I'd assume minimal delay for departure at BDL, but one of the many issues that popped up during summer 2007 was congestion in the airways leading from northeastern US onto the North Atlantic tracks; so a flight may be held on the ground even if it's the only plane leaving BDL.

Also, one of the runways at AMS is next to the beach, about a mile away from the terminals. If you land on that runway, then it's easily a 15 minute taxi. So, even with two flights landed at AMS a minute apart, one may get to the gate 10+ minutes before the other one.

rkkwan

Okay, may be not that close to the beach, but that new runway at AMS is about <b>three</b> miles NW of the terminal.

J62

Perhaps you're thinking of the airport near the beach in the other Netherlands. (Antilles, that is)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBUYsRTO48

kybourbon

We taxied on that long runway for take off. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to taxi/drive to the US instead of flying.