Transfer at Frankfurt Airport?

Hi,

You will need to go through immigration. I can't remember if we had to with our checked luggage or just carryon. There was a huge line going over & it took a bit of time. Coming back, there was no one and it only took a few minutes. We originally had a tight connection (1hr), on the advise of my brother (works for a company based in Germany), we scheduled a longer layover.

Hope this helps.

Mary

You should be OK assuming you arrive essentially on time. No customs, only immigration/passport control. Use the green nothing to declare when you exit Hamburg. FRA is big. Familiarize yourself with the terminal layouts.

http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/airport-site/en/flights---more/transfer.html#transferservices/tab=terminaltransfer

Terminal map:
http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/flights---more/transfer.detail.suffix.html/article/flights-and-more/easy-travel/terminal-maps.html

You don't go through customs, your bags do. Customs is a check on whether your goods are allowed in the country, and whether you have to pay duty on their contents.
If you have a through booking to Hamburg, your bags will probably be transferred to the Hamburg flight, and customs will happen in Hamburg. Your bags will be labelled so customs can tell they came from outside the EU. You jut walk through the "nothing to declare" green channel with your bags.

But, it is not customs that takes time, it is immigration (passport control), which is the check on whether you are allowed in the country. This will take place at the first place you enter the Schengen area, that is Frankfurt. 1h25 should be enough. But, if you have a through booking, it is the airlines problem to get you on the connecting flight. If you miss it because the incoming flight was late, the have to put you on the next available flight.

Thanks for the advice :)

What airlines are you flying? If you are flying straight through on Lufthansa, or Vancouver to FRA on a Star-Alliance airline, then FRA to Hamburg on Lufthansa, your transfer will be entirely in Terminal 1, hopefully in the same concourse.

If you are flying in on another airline, like Delta, you will have to change terminals, and that might be problematic. If flying on a single ticket, your luggage should be checked through to Hamburg and you will not have to retrieve it, and go through customs, in Frankfurt. But you will still have to go through Schengen immigration in Frankfurt, and that takes time.

JJ,

I've made many transfers in Frankfurt and If you're using code share flights with Air Canada, this is the likely scenario.

When you arrive in Frankfurt you'll go through Passport Control, as that will be your first entry to the Schengen area so your Passport will be stamped. 1.5 hours is a bit "tight" for a connection, so If possible try to arrange seating towards the front of your flight from Vancouver so that you can deplane quickly when you arrive in Frankfurt and get to the front of the queue. On the flight from YVR to FRA you may be using flight LH493.

If you're booking with Air Canada, your flight from Frankfurt to Hamburg will be on a Lufthansa (Star Alliance partner) regional flight. Two different numbers may be shown for your flight on the electronic board, one number for AC and a different number for LH. You'll have to go through security again before boarding your next flight, and that could take some time so don't stop for coffee!

With a code share flight, if the first segment from Vancouver is late and you miss the connecting flight, the airline will ensure that you get to Hamburg on the next flight available.

If you're going to be checking luggage and using Air Canada, you'll drop the luggage at the desk at YVR and won't see it again until it appears on the baggage carousel at HAM.

Try to find out from the flight attendant which gate you will arrive at and depart from, to give you an idea about distance between the two. I have used the Frankfurt airport many times, and will never fully learn the layout because of ongoing constructions and closed corridors and detours. So the distance could be a considerable walk, resulting in loss of time. - Best advise is to call their airline in advance and ask about a ride in their golf carts, as they pick you up from one gate and deliver you to the next. Or, if you are older or disabled, request wheelchair for the same reason.

Also, hope you don't park on the tarmac and have to wait for a bus to bring you in. That happened last year, we had to wait for a second bus to show up to get the remainder of us. Made it to our next flight/gate after boarding had already started.

You should be fine with that connection. Assuming you are staying in Terminal 1, you may not even have to go through security to get to your next plane (the only time I did was when I went to baggage claim by mistake, and even then, I made my connection with a similar amount of time). If you are all on one ticket, your bags will be checked through.

But if the worst happens and you miss your Hamburg flight (say, if your outbound flight from Vancouver is delayed), as long as you are one ticket they will put you on the next flight. From Frankfurt to Hamburg there will be multiple flights a day, so you will not have difficulty getting on one. If your connection was to some place with only one flight a day (or worse, less than one flight a day), I'd allow more time.