EU Passport Control/Customs Frankfurt Airport
 

Hello,

We will be traveling to Italy in May. Our return flight has us traveling from Florence to Frankfurt before heading back to the US. On our previous trips abroad, we haven't had layovers in multiple EU countries on the same flight route, so I am unfamiliar with the procedures.

(1) Will we need to go through passport control or customs in Frankfurt?

Additionally, United recently switch our flights around. Our original flight had a 2.5 hour layover in Frankfurt. Our new The new flight has a 50 min. layover. Originally we were flying Lufthansa from Florence to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to the US (United codeshare). We are now flying Lufthansa from Florence to Frankfurt, and United from Frankfurt to the US.

(2) Are the United and Lufthansa planes in the same terminal?

(3) If not, is 50 min. enough time to deboard and get to the terminal where the United planes are?

No passport control from Italy to Germany. However, 50 minutes seems way too tight for a connection to a transatlantic flight. At best you'll barely make it to your gate, and there's a high chance that something can go wrong. I would contact your airline to reschedule.

I agree with the above. We had an awful experience connecting from Israel to Frankfurt heading back to the United States. We flew Lufthansa too, although there was no issue on the outbound, the trip home was a disaster. We thought with a two hour window that we would be fine, it turned out not to be. There were delays all around, we landed in the middle of the tarmac had to catch a bus to the tiny terminal where no one was there to guide us, there were literally hundreds of people pushing their way through a small space, we had to go through customs in the EU, then ran to catch our flight to Miami and found it was had departed. We then had to run a very long stretch to catch the next flight which was headed to Atlanta. What was supposed to be 2 flights turned into 3 because we were not going to our original destination. It took us over 24 hours to get home. Suffice it to say we will never fly Lufthansa again if we can avoid it.

<u>Passport control</u> in Frankfurt for exiting the Schengen zone.
<u>No customs</u> at Frankfurt. Are you thinking about 3 hour customs ordeals at some third world countries? It is a 3 second event in Europe even if you have to go through one.
<u>Carry-on security</u>check may be. Last year, I flew from Rome to the U.S. via FRA, and there was no security check at FRA for the first time ever at any European airport as a transit point. All other times I had to go through time consuming security checks between flights at FRA. This was between two Lufthansa flights. Of course, the airports change procedures all the time.

There are usually Lufthansa agents on arrival to FRA that can help you with tight transfers.
Italy is a Schengen country while Israel is not.

You can download a transfer guide at http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/con.../transfer.html.

You will go through passport control in Frankfurt since you are leaving the Schengen zone.

Do you have anyone in a wheelchair? That might help. 50 minutes is tight. We made our flight only because an agent raced through the terminal pushing my wife's wheelchair and congratulated me on being fit when we reach our destination. The transfer involved two elevators (the agent just insisted our our priority) and going through security (again we by-passed the line).