Frankfurt Main Airport

Signs are many and very confusing. Granted everything is there as far shopping and conveniences of all sorts are concerned - but to find them and to find your flight elsewhere is a problem. I think that the architecture and structure of the airport is flawed. It has grown too fast and changed so many times to accommodate new legislation and growing number of passengers that travellers do not manage to get a feeling of direction anymore.

I travel to Frankfurt every year on vacation usually May-Sep. I am a German-American and speak fluent German and English but I always have to ask several times at this airport. I know how to follow signs but here they often lead to nothing; the signage has to be upgraded. The personnel I have asked have been supportive but not always clear. I have had layovers at many airports internationally but Frankfurt has been the worst. This is coming from a German who loves her country!

I was just reminded why so many previous contributors have awarded this airport low ratings particularly for surly and rude staff. Arriving from Dubai the other day I lined up at one of the immigration counters marked "EU EWR CH". Just when it was my turn a woman in a fluorescent jacket moved in from left field. Feeling my physical resistance she then muttered "Excuse me we have priority". She had two passengers in tow without EU passports. I suggested she might make her own job easier if she asked people prior to trying to push them aside upon which she replied (with a straight face) "I just did ask you". As a native German speaker I can safely say that there was neither the intonation of a question or a please (usually associated with asking) involved. I usually avoid Frankfurt but was forced to use it due to my original itinerary having been disturbed by the volcanic ash saga.

Departed from Terminal 2. It is quite time-consuming from the long-distance train platforms to Terminal 2 building - long walks to reach the shuttle stop followed by a 10 mins bus drive. The terminal itself is modern and clean. Check-in and security screening hassle-free. Staff polite though not overly friendly. Airside there is not much to do in the Schengen area - a duty-free shop a small kiosk and an overpriced cafe. Toilet facilities are clean but hard to find.

We arrived at terminal 1 and went to the passport control where it was confusing and crowded with passengers just arrived and did not know which lines they supposed to follow to get their passport checked. The signs were all in German! Inside the terminal though the signs have English subtitles which make it easier to find the train station. Departure gates were also confusing and very far apart with no place in between to buy refreshment.

Flying from Copenhagen to Asia. Signs not clear. Difficult to find the transit check-in counter. Bad planing of traffic flows. It can take more than an hour to pass the security and constantly people arriving from the other gates can cut the lines. or you think you're close to the security but the lines are merging constantly. Baby changing table only in the ladies restroom.

Warning about taking a taxi from the Frankfurt Airport. We decided to take a taxi instead of the hotel shuttle as we were tired and did not know how long until the next hotel shuttle. Also the phone service at the arrival level to the hotels did not seem to work. The taxi driver went insane when he found out we were going only a short distance fare. He was very vocal and aggressive and then started to drive wildly with speeds in excess on 170 KM/hour. We noticed that he was had no intention to take us to out hotel but then accused us of giving him the wrong hotel name. He wanted to take us downtown. I demanded the driver call his supervisor who I advised that we were not going to pay this driver for the driver's error. The hotel staff advised us that the normal fare was 12-14 Euros and he wanted 30 over Euros.

The buses? The security? The service? We flew in from Venice to Frankfurt connecting back to the US (Philadelphia). Our flight from Venice (Lufthansa) was delayed by a mere 20 minutes due to snow in Frankfurt which wasn't a problem I could have spent the day in the Venice airport. Arriving in snowy Frankfurt we taxied out way out somewhere near the border with Belgium near as I could tell and waited for the guys to get out of the truck and move the stairs so we could get out of the plane. Took about 20 minutes for everyone to decide it was time for us to deplane not sure what the high-sign was must be a secret. They didn't make much of an effort to clear off or dry the stairs (can't imagine how scary it must have been for people with larger pieces of luggage or carrying children) and we got on the bus for the "terminal". After a leisurely drive we got to a "gate" which was some stairs escalator and an elevator. Then the rush through the rat's maze to make our connecting flight began. Which entailed up escalators down some stairs moving sidewalks signage covered with colored tape (presumably as a result of new security procedures) back to a long line leading up to another security screening (we'd already had a full screening before departing Venice). Security consisted of a line leading to an escalator (there were approximately 75 to 80+ people in line) where the attendant would allow 4 to 5 people up at a time to be screened. This would have been reasonable had there been more than one metal detector. When we were finally allowed up about 1 in 10 people made it through without requiring additional wanding or patting down meaning things didn't go very fast. The staff was also pretty abusive calling people "stupid" (in English why insult someone in German if they may not understand it) and having a general disdain for the entire process not to mention ongoing conversations with one another not having anything do with the screening process (I would have understood if they'd insulted me in German). Then more dashing off to the "gate" - okay it's not a "gate" it's a "bus stop" stop calling it something it's not. We got on the last bus for the plane which meant we had to sit in the tunnel waiting for the last of the poor suckers still in the security line to make it through. Which meant that we were sitting in the tunnel inhaling exhaust fumes for about half an hour. They didn't bother to close the doors to the bus. I will plan any future trips avoiding both Lufthansa and Frankfurt airport. I will also recommend to anyone that asks to avoid any connections through Frankfurt and Lufthansa they just didn't seem to care. Advice for fellow travelers if you are coming from the US I'd make any connections there in order to get a direct flight to your location. We'd have probably been better off flying into either JFK or even backtracking to O'Hare then flying direct.

Transit between LH flights (from BKK then to GVA) at terminal 1. Arriving in the early morning 10-15 people queue at immigration which went quite fast agent spent the whole time discussing with his colleague. Security check had several lines open and only 2 people in front of me but it still took ages: had to put really everything through X-ray (even my passport and boarding pass) then after having passed through the metal detector had to wait 5 minutes for my stuff stuck on the conveyor belt because the employee responsible to move the trays for the last meter had decided to take a break (passenger in front of me tried to reach for his tray and was quite impolitely told to not even think about it). Lots of walking between my gates and then a long bus ride (with no heating despite the -7) to the plane. Signage not extremely clear (felt it made me zigzag through the whole airport) but not as bad as at CDG. Overall the employees (immigration security and LH ground personnel) were not particularly polite nor friendly.

I went through the Frankfurt airport (FRA) on my way back to the US on January 18 2010 after new security procedures were in place and it took an average of 2 minutes per person in line to get through security. When I arrived at the security line about 6 or 7 people were in front of me and it took 15 minutes to get through. They now open and search every bag and I had a pat down search because I set off the alarm even though I had less metal on me than I have had at any airport before (glasses wedding ring and trouser clasp and zipper were all the metal I could think of). I originally had 1 hour 50 minutes scheduled between flights at Frankfurt but that was cut to 1 hour because of weather delays. I almost missed my flight and now I will try to never have less than 3 hours scheduled for Frankfurt. For those who have not connected through Frankfurt on their way to the U.S. you do not need to claim you checked bags in Frankfurt they just go onto the next plane. But you will need to go through security and a passport check on your way from a regional flight to the US. flight. You also are carried by shuttle from your regional plane (at least for some) to the terminal so everyone waits for the last person. That is another reason for why you would want more time for your connection than you would need at most larger US airports.