larala

Arriving at Frankfurt airport from the US. Flying on one ticket, arriving at FRA Terminal 1A and connecting flight to Spain departing Terminal 2E. How much time does it take from one terminal to the other including passport control? Thanks for your help.

nytraveler

It all depends.

Is your incoming flight on time (check on time record)? Are there a lot of other international flights landing at the same time?

How long is the line at Immigration? (how many other international flights have landed at the same time)?

How far apart are the two gates?

To increase yuor chances of making a short connection you should:

Sit at the very front of the plane (can save 10 to 15 minutes deplaning)

Move as quickly as possible from plane to Immigration and then to the next gate (make sure your carry-on is easy to carry or pull - and walk as briskly as possible (I've had to jog to make connections at Heathrow)

Find out your next gate in advance and how to get there from Immigration (flight staff should be able to tell you this)

DAX

Frankfurt airport is sprawling huge, don't carry too much hand luggage as it is a long long walk from the intercontinental gates to the intra Europe gates. That said I have dashed my way through and made the gate transfer in 45 minutes with a quick stop to buy a bratwurst from one of those carts along the way. I plot my route by looking at the on flight magazine for gate locations as soon as they announced the connecting gates during landing.

Andrew

No matter how much time I have for a connection, I always look to see if/when there is a later flight after my scheduled flight to my destination, in case I am late and miss the original flight. If there's another flight two hours after my original flight, I assume there's a good chance I'd get put on it, assuming it isn't sold out and overbooked and that I'm not traveling at a super busy time. Then I don't worry quite as much about making my original connection.

Ackislander

When we made the same connection, we and everyone else on our flight also going to 2E were met by a Lufthansa employee, shepherded through a lot of back corridors, delivered to and through transfer immigration, and plumped down in our terminal in plenty of time, though breathless.

We looked with envy at the shops and particularly at DAX's bratwurst or its early morning equivalent but no time to stop.

VolCrew

1A and 2E are on opposite ends of the airport. There is a Sky Line tram that connects the two terminals.

zaksgrandma

with all that, how much time is necessary between flights? Can I make an 1.5 hr connection?

traveller1959

Grandma, I wanted to answer your original question with a straight 45 minutes, so 1.5 hour is plenty of time. But you will have to walk several hundred yards, and some travellers, after an intercontinetal flight, are somewhat confused by a big and busy airport. So look carefully for signs to find your way.

Do not worry about that what the Americans call immigration. In Europe, it is a breeze. They just scan your passport and this is it. No forms, no questions. In FRA, it never took longer than five minutes to go through passport control.

If you fly on one ticket, a delayed arrival would not harm you. The airline is responsible to book you on the next available flight, and there are many flights to Spain.

Here is the airport map:

http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/con...-terminals.pdf

You may print the map.

So, when you will be coming from A, you have to leave the security zone, walk to B, pass security check again, and board the Sky Line train which brings you directly to E.

zaksgrandma

thanks so muchtraveller1959. Your answer was specific and therefore very helpful

phillipalstonbutler

As some nice people here have suggested, Frankfurt is a spread out monster if you get caught pressed for time. Arrive at least two hours before your flight, as most agents would suggest.

Things to consider, as some have also suggested, include the distance from parking to your gate. For an instance, if you are headed to anywhere Aegean or other regional airlines fly to, you're in for a walk to the end of the gates. The last Aegean flight we took to Greece was a mad dash of at least 3 kilometers under the roof. (parking to the plane door)

As for check in, security, and other delays, see above depending on travel across the "pond" or within Schengen etc. Travel to EU countries in this zone is vastly simplified, but it gets complicated the farther east you go.

I hope that helped a bit. The airport MAP is a super suggestion. Oh, and one last thing, do NOT park your car long term (week, weeks, etc.) at Frankfurt. Caviar is cheaper.

traveller1959

>>>Frankfurt is a spread out monster <<<

FRA is no worse or better than any other large international airport. JFK or Heathrow can be much worse if you have to change terminals.

However, FRA has a bad reputation among Americans. This is mainly because you have got up early in the morning in your hometown, had a connecting flight and a transatlantic flight with a very short night. Then you arrive at FRA, and most travellers are somewhat dizzy. Then you may have to walk five hundred yards which feel like two miles.

We Europeans have a similar feeling when we arrive in the U.S. We feel a little better because we have not missed a night. But we have to pass immigration in the U.S. which is a whole different thing than passport check in Europe.