Connecting To Gates In Terminal 1, Concourse A, At The Frankfurt Airport

Whether or not you need to pass through Passport Control depends on where you are arriving from and where you are going to. If coming from outside Schengen and flying to another Schengen location, or coming from another Schengen location and flying to somewhere outside Schengen, then you must go through Passport Control.

Thank You for your message. After I received your reply, I inquired if Hungary as well as Portugal are part of Schengen. Yes they are. My additional question is, if both the arrival and the departure are in the same terminal and concourse, do I just continue on the same floor level to look and arrive at the departing gate.

You may find the Frankfurt Airport website helpful: https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en.html

Thank You for your reply. I have checked out the airport's website. Terminal 1, Concourse A is easy to find. All I need to know is if all I have to do is go from one gate to another without any hassles other than the walk, for example, somewhere between gate A14 to gate A40...or do I need to go to another floor, or is floor 2 the only floor for all connecting arrivals and departures (in my case).

Yes, arrivals and departures are on different floors, but there are escalators and elevators. No passport control, just get off the plane and walk to your departing gate. The gates should be posted the day you fly, so if you Google your flights, this will show you where.

Dear Ms. Jo. Thank You for your message. I noticed that your message came from Frankfurt. You must be pretty familiar with the airport. May I ask which is the arrival floor and which floor is the departure floor. Looking forward to hearing back from you. Thank You again.

Except for, possibly, flights that board or deplane on the tarmac, all A gates are on the same floor of the building with Concourses A (in-Schengen) and Z (out-of-Schengen). The Z gates are on the top two floors, the very top floor is for arrivals only from countries that are not considered "secure". There are no departures from that floor, only arrivals. Those passengers must go through security before going downstairs to the floor with the main Z (arrival and departures) gates. Below that are the A gates, for in-Schengen flights. So, when your travel day comes, as long as your flights that day are still both using A gates, you will just "walk down the hall" to your new gate. You won't have to go through passport control or security.

When you said both of your flights were using A gates, I knew that both countries were in Schengen.

Dear Lee, Thank You for your quick reply, I was hoping that arrivals and departures would be that easy. I am hopeful this will be the case. Would it be any different if I was disembarking or embarking walking on the tarmac.
I notice that you wrote your reply from Lakewood, CO. I am in Castle Rock, CO. Small world!

Be aware, though, that sometimes flights arrive/depart at gates in the B concourse. There is a tunnel between A and B. I think you have to be in the in-Schengen zone to use it, and you will be. I also believe (no one has confirmed nor denied this) that you have to go through security after using the tunnel before getting into a concourse.

And, there is also the SkyLine people mover that goes between stations on top of Concourse A/Z and B. I think the tunnel would be faster.

So, just hope that your flights will use gates in A on the day you travel.

Would it be any different if I was disembarking or embarking walking
on the tarmac.

You don't walk very far on the tarmac. There would be buses there to take you to a concourse.

Thank You for your quick response, Lee. I will be flying Lufthansa on both legs of my journey. I did read that Lufthansa uses Concourse A the largest percentage of the time. I am hoping that my flights will arrive and depart from Concourse A. I am so used to flying out of Denver and San Diego airports which makes connecting flights and travel easy. My husband requests a wheelchair at check-in to get to and from gates, whatever the case may be. I want to make his travels easy. I look for longer layover times between connections to make the transition less complicated. I am hoping for the best.
I read on one of Frankfurt Airport's websites that it only takes aprox. 8 min. to walk from (for example) gate 36 to gate 15. The diagrams on the airport's websites for concourse A appears longer than an 8 min. walk. What is your take?
Thank You again.

Using the "measure distance" feature on Google Maps, I get the distance between Gate A15 and Gate A36 as just over 2000 ft, about 3/8 of a mile. If you walk at 20 min/mile, that's 7½ minutes.

However, looking at the arrival gates for today, flights from Budapest appear to use gates A1 and A2, which are actually in the main building for T1, in between concourses A and B. Flights to Lisbon seem to be regional jets and, although 1 flight used A17 (easily within 8 minutes of A1/2, another flight used A38, almost at the end of the lower, regional jet wing of A. A1 to A38 appears to be about 6/10th of a mile, about 12 "walking" minutes, if you know where you are going. Of course, your wheelchair assistant will know where he is going. My late partner needed wheelchair assistance in airports, and I found it hard to keep up with them.

BTW, Ms Jo has (had) an interesting video on YouTube where she is walking in Concourse A, including the lowered portion on the regional jet end.

Dear Lee,
Thank You for your message. Wow! you are quite a person with the gate to gate measurements! Thank You! Also, you even checked today's arrival gate from Budapest as well as the departure gate to Lisbon. You really went out of your way! Thank You so very much.
I just hope that we will not have to walk the tarmac. I am noticing that many European airports use the tarmac for departures and arrivals. Something that I have to get used to. Thank You again for your assistance. Have a pleasant day and a restful weekend.

In the first decade of this century, before they enlarged what used to be Concourse A to allow for larger aircraft, several times I had a tarmac boarding or deplaning for either A or B. I think they are less common now that they have more gates and space for larger planes.

But, we never had to "walk the tarmac". We were bused between the airplane and the terminal. The only walking on the tarmac was between the stairs and the bus.

Come out to our May meeting and get all of your questions answered.

Hi Lee,
Thank You for the information. If we are bused to the gate, will the bus drive us to the A gate, for example, where we could directly go to our next connecting flight at the new gate without taking an elevator or escalator?

If we are bused to the gate, will the bus drive us to the A gate, for
example, where we could directly go to our next connecting flight at
the new gate?

The A gates are on the 2nd level of the A/Z building. The buses come in on the ground level (1), so, no, the buses are not going to take you directly to the gate for the next connecting flight. It looks like there are Schengen bus arrival rooms on the first floor with escalators and elevators up to the main hallway of Concourse A. You will have to go between the elevator to your gate on the same level. Hopefully, you will get wheelchair assistance from the bus arrival room to your gate.

Understand that, although I have flown into FRA 9 times (Incl. 1 plane change in 2002) in the last 25 years, I don't think I have had a tarmac arrival since 2005. So, I'm not familiar with exactly what is done today. I have seen some YouTube video of people arriving on the tarmac and going to an A gate, but I don't know how old the videos are. They all seem to be bused to the non-Schengen bus arrival spot on level 1 of Concourse B (at the crotch of the Y), have to go through immigration, and then, for some unknown reason (luggage retrieval?) go out of the secure area and through the common area between B and A. I don't think those videos are appropriate to you.

Hello Lee,
Thank You for your message and clear explanation. Your most recent post is exactly what I though. Now I know what to expect if I arrive or depart walking on the tarmac.
Have a pleasant day and a good week!