Transferring from Gate A to Gate C

Here is a link to a site with both a map and info about mobility services https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/services/accessible-travel/fracare-service.html

Others please correct me if I am wrong, I believe you will need to pass through passport control, baggage claim, customs and bag recheck upon arrival in Frankfurt as you are coming from the UK. If you booked this as a single trip your air carrier should have booked a connecting time that will let you make your connection.

It would help if you note what airlines you are on, both coming into Frankfurt and
departing. Assuming it is a connection, all on one ticket, then any checked luggage
should be tagged to Tampa, and you won't have to claim/recheck. You may need
to go through passport control for the purposes of leaving the Schengen zone.

This is usually less hassle than coming into Europe, but for your purposes, may
mean a longer distance to cover than just gate-to-gate.

But in general, Frankfurt is a large, convoluted airport and the distances between
connections can be long, so I would be thinking about arranging assistance ahead
of time. 2:20 should be enough time, but a lot of flights in Frankfurt land/depart
from so-called gates that are actually spots on the tarmac where they bus you to/from
the terminal, and that requires more time.

You may need to go through passport control for the purposes of
leaving the Schengen zone.

Glasgow is not in Schengen.

Thank you all for your help

Glasgow is not in Schengen

True, but today's flight from Glasgow arrived at an A gate (A1), which should, I believe, be an in-Schengen gate.

Does anyone know why? I think A1 might be a bus gate, for tarmac arrivals. There is a nearby jetway, but it looks like it is shared by gates A1-A5, whereas other A gates have individual jetways. And A1-A5 are small rooms right next to each other with one connecting hallway leading to the single jetway. From the airport map, it looks like A1 has direct access to other A gates without going through immigration, again leading me to believe that it is an in-Schengen gate.

Is it possible that Lufthansa clears people for Schengen in Glasgow? But what if some of those passengers don't have Schengen access?

I hope someone knows what's going on here.

And the C concourse is, I believe, all in the transit zone, i.e., out of Schengen flights (like the Z concourse). It seems to be used by charter airlines (Condor, I know). Discover classifies themselves as a "leisure airline".

True, but today's flight from Glasgow arrived at an A gate (A1), which
should, I believe, be an in-Schengen gate.

I don't know how reliable this site is, but it claims that today's flight arrived at gate B24, which is in the non-Schengen part of the airport. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/DLH975/history/20240803/0520Z/EGPF/EDDF

Is it possible that Lufthansa clears people for Schengen in Glasgow?

No, I'm not aware of any Schengen immigration being done at airports outside the Schengen area (apart from the checks that the airlines do).

Flights from Europe to the US through Toronto (some Canadian city, I think it is Toronto) go through US immigration in Canada.

In 2013 I was using UAL miles to buy RT tickets from Denver to Germany, and they put me on a flight back on Air Canada to some Canadian city (I think it was Toronto). I thought, no problem, Air Canada is supposed to be a good airline. But it did say that we would go through US immigration in Canada and the flight to Denver would be a domestic flight.

A few weeks before we were scheduled to depart for Germany, I was looking at the flights, and the late flight from Toronto to Denver had been cancelled and we were scheduled to arrive in Toronto after the last flight to Denver had already left. I called UAL, and they put us on flight through Dulles (ugh). We went through US immigration in Dulles.

Bottom line, they do do that, have immigration at the departure airport. I think they also do that for some flights leaving from Dublin.

But anyway, explain why a flight from a non-Schengen country could arrive at an A gate.

I'm not sure I trust your website. Both the Frankfurt Airport site and the Lufthansa site showed that flight arriving at an A gate.

I'm afraid that many US travelers think Schengen is a Dutch beer. As in, my friend and I will each have a Schengen.

I am well aware that US immigration is sometimes handled at the departure airport, e.g. in Dublin. That works in since US airports don't believe in international airside transfers. But my post was about Schengen immigration, and I'm not aware of that being done at any airports outside Schengen. The only Schengen immigration done outside the area I know of are the checks at St Pancras station in London. Doing prechecks at the departing airport would give European airlines a big disadvantage so I don't think any politician wants to suggest that.

I did check the airport's website and it said nothing about the flight arriving at an A gate. But it did say Exit A1, which is not the same as gate A1.

This morning's data from Frankfurt Airport shows that the same flight used Exit A1, but Flight Radar says that it arrived at Gate B27, with the next flight of the aircraft being to Belgrade as LH1406. Frankfurt Airport data shows that flight as embarking from a bus gate B33 rather than the airbridge at B27.

It would seem that in the meantime the aircraft was taken to a remote stand as LH904 to Heathrow departed from B27 at 1000, confirmed not to be the same aircraft as had arrived from Glasgow.

My confidence is in Flight Radar data and in the data set @Badger used yesterday.

Great catch by @Badger and @isn31c about Exit A1 versus Gate A1. Here in the US if you are greeting someone you are interested in their Baggage Claim. That's were you'll meet them if you come inside the terminal.

In Europe, I belive you are meeting at the Exit, which is beyond passport control, baggage claim and customs. Sometimes, in LHR and other huge airports, I've see massive crowds waiting outside the Exit.

Frankfurt airport is constantly changing, so something that might have been valid in 2013, may not be the case now.

Flights often land at say, Gate A, but the arrival gate may be different. Depends on how crowded it is. When you look at sites like Flight Aware, you see this often.

I always tell people to simply Google their flight and # to see where it is landing or departing. This is helpful to you.

The walk from A to C is pretty long though, so I would get some assistance arranged if possible. It is in a straight line, A to A1. to B-1, to B2, to C1, but a very long distance.