I am travelling to Canada next month from Glasgow via Frankfurt to Vancouver. They have given me a 65min connection time and as I have never been in Frankfurt airport I’m a bit concerned if this is enough time. I arrive on Lufthansa from Glasgow and connecting to Vancouver on Air Canada. I recently had knee replacement surgery and although I can get around well I’m a bit concerned at the speed I can walk….thanks for any info
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7878 posts
Aside from general advice, it is usually possible to determine the "usual" gates for a flight by looking at yeterday's gates on the Flight Status tab of their website.
Posted by
Chicago
643 posts
Frankfurt is a large, disjointed airport, as you will surmise if you peruse the
comments on the forum.
1) there's a decent chance you deplane at a remote gate (aka, piece of tarmac) and
have to bus in to the terminal, adding to the connection time
2) there's a decent chance your departure plane will be at a remote gate, so you need
to bus out to it and they close the actual terminal gate a bit sooner so the bus can
get everyone to the plane for an ontime takeoff.
You may need to clear immigration as well. So all in all, I'd say 65 minutes is dicey.
You might a) want to review if there are any same-day options to get to Vancouver
if you miss your flight b) request cart assistance ahead of time to get you to your gate.
Since it's all on one ticket, LH will get you there. There are many service counters
within the airport where you can get assistance.
Even if you connect within Terminal 1, it's a long way from A38 to Z25.
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1600 posts
What alternatives do you have? I’m assuming at most there is only possibly one other direct flight a day to Vancouver from FRA on LH. Is this flight after the Air Canada one? If not, your only option will be to rebook connecting in a different airport or adding a second stop, say in Toronto. Or you have to try and find an earlier departure from Glasgow
Unless you find a a better option, you may be stuck. Note, I have made shorter connections in FRA without issues in the recent past so I would have no issues with a 70 min connection
Posted by
San Franciso Bay Area, USA
1028 posts
Shoeflyer and Arnold have given you some good advice. I have flown through Frankfurt 6 times this past year (to and from the US, not Canada). I typically allow 2 hours for Frankfurt for the reasons that Shoeflyer mentioned. If your flight arrives and lands on the tarmac, you will need to take a bus to the terminal and then most likely you will need to bus to another terminal. This process, even in the best circumstances takes time. Most of the times, I was able to get my connection, but I had to run. One time, I made the flight (just barely), but my luggage didn’t.
As Arnold suggested, see what your alternatives are if you miss the flight so at least you know whether you can get out the same day. If you can find a flight that has more than 65 minute connection time, I would recommend taking it.