Depending on which airline travellers use, they may be finding something new in Frankfurt this year.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvwdwLwGhX0
Although all systems are being tested extensively, there may still be a few glitches when it opens. Looking at the size, travellers might need running shoes!
Question?
When I first heard about T3, I was under the opinion that it was to bring in off-market airlines that had not before been at FRA, like Ryanair, EasyJet, etc. Is that basically true? Are the "mainline" airlines still using T1 & T2, or are some of them now at T3?
Except for one flight on Northwest, now part of Delta, I only fly Lufthansa or United. Well, once I flew USAir, now part of American, but that was to Munich. Do I have to worry about ever getting exiled to T3?
Just a thought, when they were going through the same kind of testing before opening DIA in Denver, I remember they were having some problems with the automated baggage handling system. A reporter described seeing a bag fly off of one of the conveyers and land on the floor, splitting open, throwing clothing, picture, and other personal items on the floor. I figured that they had put weights in the bags, but personal items? Then I realized where they had gotten the bag with which to test - from the lost bag system. These were actual bags that someone had packed, but had gotten lost.
What kind of a test was that? All of the bags already had a history of getting lost! Most bags have never been lost. These bags were not suitable for a control group; they were not representative of the bags they would be handling.
Topic is already long at horizon and on forum's radar.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/frankfurt-terminal-3-opening-planned-for-april-2026
Terminal 2 will be closing for renovations. Ryan Air was already at Fraport for quite a few years, but they left a number of years ago.
Lost luggage is perfect. Why wouldn't it be? Just because it was lost once, doesn't mean there was something wrong with the bag that would make it get lost again. It was fun to hear about what was in the bags. The testers were opening them.
I posted about this on the Germany forum already. Mark posted the link.
Bags don't get lost because of the type of bag. Bags get lost due to improper handling. Either they were marked incorrectly when checked in or the baggage handlers loaded them onto the wrong planes.
If a bag goes flying off the luggage belt, then it's possible the belt speed is improperly set.
Many years ago, when paper tags were still being used, I was on a charter flight to Guaymas, Mexico. The three letter airport code for Guaymas is GYM. Since it was a charter, we were all checking in on a separate line. I noticed, the people checking us in were putting on tags that read GUM--Guam. The airline also flew to Guam. When it was my turn to check in, I told them of the error, their eyes widened and people started scurrying abou trying to locate the mislabeled bags.
There's less of a chance today of this happening due to computer generated baggage tags.
Lost bags might be perfect for testing a luggage handling system. Perhaps there was something peculiar to these bags that caused the machines to misdirect or otherwise mishandle them. Possibly some very rare edge scenario. Flying off the conveyor could definitely cause your bag to delayed or go missing.
