Frankfurt Main Airport

Poor signage and directions at Frankfurt airport. After a route march I found passport control after being in the terminal for 15 minutes. Passport control and baggage reclaim was fairly simple and quick. Trying to buy a train ticket took over 60 minutes to complete. This was due to the lack of serviceable ticket machines in the concourse - of the 6 I tried, none were working. I then joined the queue which snaked around the concourse only to find out of the 6 sales points 3 were open. There were no signs anywhere to tell you that on the upper level there were another 3 sets of tickets offices all of which had to be passed to get to the trains. For departure the signage seems to be a problem which caused queues at passport control has there was only one sign for three sets of passport controls which all were open and manned fully. A good mix of shops and places to eat, however the tables did need to be cleared in McDonalds.

Disastrous taxi management at Frankfurt airport while building works continue for over 9 months. Bad signs all over. No indication where the queue begins. Anarchy at busy times and a token gesture of an occasional controller who just makes matters worse - a disgrace at the gateway to Germany.

Awful. I have to travel to Frankfurt every week on business and the security are painfully and unnecessarily slow. Two weeks ago they made me take every single cable out of my cabin bags (not just laptops and phone), insisting these "are the rules" (they are not anywhere in the world). Today, they let a huge queue build snaking back into the terminal and the gate closure time to pass before finally opening more than ONE lane through the bag scanners. A serious pain. Every week.

Airport was very clean and it was very easy to move around from one gate to another. There was enough shopping areas to keep you entertained and enough restaurants to satisfy your needs. Bathrooms were clean and spacious. There was enough room to get a seat and wait for the plane. Information at the aiport was very good, staff were waiting for us at the airplane to inform all passengers of gate changes and to make sure everybody was informed. Staff were very friendly and efficient. Boarding was simple and fast. The airport is big, that is no news to anyone and you do need to walk quite a bit from gate to gate, also there are a lot of passengers and people moving from place to place, so it is not the quietest of aiports but it is very good.

Calgary to Lisbon transit between Air Canada and Lufthansa, outbound and inbound was a bit harrowing because of the size of Frankfurt airport and its various security protocols, but there are plenty of airport staff to assist with directions so that things went smoothly and well within the two hours I had available for both transits. However, the reason I am writing this review is to complain about the disgusting state of the toilets at the airport. The toilets at the gate to Lisbon were blocked and overflowing and the urinals smelt. The toilets at the gate on the return to Calgary were filthy. For an international airport of its stature these conditions are deplorable.

Changing planes at Frankfurt Airport is a terrible experience. Arriving from Terminal 1B Non-Schengen in transit to 1B Schengen, same terminal, requires going through security with long waiting lines. In the Schengen area of Terminal 1B there is no lounge. The nearest lounge is in 1A. To get there, you have to stand in lines to take an elevator to the basement then walk 1km past the dreaded tunnel, then stand in lines to take the elevator up again. In 1B, there was only one restroom for 10 adjacent gates. People standing in lines waiting for the restroom. In area 1A, more restrooms are available but all filthy with puddles on the floor. Even in the Lufthansa lounge people stand in front of the restroom, waiting in lines. Boarding is often via bus, so priority boarding gives you the privilege of spending more time on the bus waiting for departure. If at all possible, go via Munich or Dusseldorf and avoid this mess.

Transferring on a flight between UK and Switzerland between Terminal A and Terminal B. Easy and efficient transfer through a busy airport. Signage can be a little confusing and walking distances can be quite long so do need a reasonable transfer time between flights.

Well, a mixed review. Arrival and onward flight with Lufthansa was great, until I got to the departure gate and was greeted with staff who did not care about the passengers, but seemed more interested in talking to each other and discussing what they done at the weekend. The flight was delayed but the staff could not be bothered to make any tannoys or announcements. The delay was about 30 minutes but talking to other passengers the flight to Berlin has a habit of been delayed or cancelled, however, gate staff gave the impression of been there to chat amongst themselves. The return flight however was completely different, the gate staff were friendly and happy to help. Ok I did travel from Terminal B but the standard of service should be the same.

Long and tricky transit from Lufthansa to Lufthansa. Following the sign to my departure gate I was directed to an internal train over the roof. This took 5 min to reach the platform and 5 minutes after leaving the train to get down, only 2 minutes later. For this reason very few passenger were following this route and preferred to walk. When leaving the train after maybe 400 meters, I had to walk 1 Km to reach my gate. I thought that connecting with the same airlines would have been quicker and easier.

Arrived from the city to Terminal 1C, where our check in was. Check in was ok (quite efficient) and the staff were friendly. Our departure gate was on 1B, so we had to walk for quite a long time. The security control was fast and used bodyscanners, which was new at this time. The duty free was big and the prices are ok. The gate (B60) was on ground level so we had to drive by bus to the aircraft. The gate was a bit crowded but I have experiened worse - the gate and the bus were both clean but the gate area was quite dark as there were no proper windows.