Transit in FRA

[JamesF]

Hi All,

My parents are travelling to Europe in a few weeks. They're flying QF to Frankfurt, and then transferring across to an Alitalia flight to Rome. Apparently QF 5 arrives into "Terminal 2" and their AZ flight leaves from Terminal 1.

Does anyone have any experience in transiting at FRA? Is the best idea to catch the Sky Line train? Can you change terminals without going through customs and security? How long does it normally take? Their travel agent booked them with a 1 hr connection, so that will add to their fun!

Thanks in advance for your help,

James

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Yes take air train to transfer. Are you sure AZ uses T1? I don't recall seeing them there but it's possible I miss it in all the LH and *A flights. The train only takes a couple of minutes, so the bigger factor is how long to wait - IIRC in middle of the day it runs about every 5-10 minutes.

They will need to clear immigration and probably 2 security checks. No way to avoid this since arriving from non-schengen country and departing to a schengen country. However immigration is totally painless - even in peak hours I have never waited more than 1 minute.

FRA, despite being very big, is easy to get around and some airlines offer MCTs as little as 45 minutes (eg LH->LH). I hope the flights are on the same ticket though, as 1 hour connection involving change of terminals, while doable, doesnt leave much room for error. You'd only need the AZ flight to be using a bus gate, or QF flight land on the far runway to make the connection tight or miss.

There should be plenty of flights to Italy - if possible I'd change to a later flight for peace of mind.

 

[JamesF]

Thanks Kiwi Flyer - I also recommended they move to another flight, but they have lots of train connections and things that they want to make once in Rome, so the earlier flight would be much better. Also, I confirmed their flights are all on booked on one paper ticket and QF have confirmed that if the incoming QF flight is delayed, they will automatically put them on the next AZ flight.

Thanks for the advice and info. My dad was very impressed at the knowledge on this forum, and maybe we'll have a new AFF member soon

cheers
james

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Having immediate onward land travel is even more reason to be cautious if possible, since if the flight misconnects the protection only covers subsequent flights not separate land travel. Whether this matters depends on where they are going (eg if just to suburb of Rome, or to major city say Milan there is less risk than a complex multi-train itinerary to a distant town with infrequent service).

 

[JamesF]

I think they're heading a few hours south of Rome. But the train tickets are not prebooked, so if it all goes pear-shaped on them, they will just rent a car in rome and drive down there.

Thanks again for the helpful advice
cheers
James