oiloc

Hi all, a friend and I will be in Frankfurt for the first time in mid August. Arriving on a Sunday night.

Our JAL flight is suppose to arrive at 6pm at terminal 2. I'm looking at a lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Munich that night departing 8.50pm.

If the JAL flight is on time, is that enought time to get out of the JAL plane, through customs and pick-up luggage and then to Terminal 1 for the lufthansa flight? What is the check-in requirements for domestic flights in Germany? Ie what time do we need to check-in for the 8.50pm lufthansa flight? In Australia we need to check-in 15mins before departure.

Any help would be great
Thanks

LoveItaly

Hello oiloc, do you have a through ticket all the way to Munich? If you do I would think that your luggage will be transferred from your flight that arrives in Frankfurt and put on the plane that you will be taking to Munich. At least that is how it works for example in the US when I fly from SF to Venice with a change of planes in Amsterdam. I never see my checked luggage from the time I check it at SFO until I arrive in Venice.

But hopefully someone else here can give you more detailed advice. Have a good trip!

flanneruk

Airports don't have standard checkin times - not even in Australia (try checking in for QF1 15 mins before departure). Airlines set them, differently for different flights, and you need to check this with Lufthansa. 30 mins checkin, 15 mins actually being at the gate, would be typical though.

If you can through-check your bags in Asia, they will automatically be transferred onto the Munich flight, and in theory you'll go through Customs at Munich (though actually, you'll just collect your bags and walk out, since Customs in Europe is a great deal more laid back - usually to the point of complete invisibility - than Down Under). This depends on JAL's policy, though, as some airlines don't like through-checking outside their Alliance, or on separate tickets.

If you can through check, you'll need at Frankfurt to go through passport control, change terminals (they're only a couple of minutes apart, and even allowing for waiting time for the transit, this shouldn't take more than 10 mins), collect a new boarding card and go through security again. It's hard to see how this can take more than 90 mins, even if a couple of jumbos arrive at the same time.

DeeDee

I can tell you from experience that you should allow at a minimum 20 - 30 minutes to deplane, board a bus to the terminal and then take the SkyLine tram to Terminal 1.

My experience was that Terminal 2 flights have passengers disembark on STAIRS, then they board a bus to the Terminal.

Frankfurt is a huge airport, the biggest I have ever seen.

You may wish to consider taking a train instead. They leave from the lower level of Terminal 1. Even late on a Sunday night, you'll find 2 or 3 trains per hour leaving the airport for Munich. Also when you fly into Munich you're a 40 minutes train ride into the city, while the train will take you right into the city center.

chtiet

More than enough time. The whole remote parking thing only usually applies to small aircraft - your JL 747 will dock directly at the terminal. JL should have no problem interlining your bags to LH at FRA, so definitely ask them to do it (ie, check your bags through to Munich). Doesn't even have to be the same ticket, as long as you can show JL some sort of ticket for your LH flight from FRA to MUC. At FRA, all you need is to clear passport control and to look for the LH transfer counter, where they'll be able to give you your boarding passes for Munich. You may even be able to stay inside of security for all this.

DeeDee

I didn't see any aircraft pull up to the terminal with passengers aboard. All that I saw empty out onto buses which pull into the terminal.

I flew on a 767 and that was offloaded by stairs onto a bus.

haxter1

I would seriously look into using the train. The long distance terminal is above ground level directly over the regional station which is underground. Go to Bahn.de and click on International Guests for English. Type in your data and see if what you find works for you.

The airport in Munich is about 45 minutes from downtown. You might also take this into consideration.

Let us know how you make out.

Catbert

Plenty of time. I didn't get off onto a bus but directly into the terminal (unlike the previous poster).

molker

No reason to take the train. You can easily make the connection in the time period mentioned.
After a long flight you would like to get to Munich as easily as possible- best by plane -then airport shuttle train to Munich center.
Prior poster ( DeeDee)does not give good information regarding " Stairs", As mentioned by chtiet, almost all larger aircraft pull to terminal and you leave aircraft via a jetway-
Your JAL check-in will advise you if they can check luggage through to Munich