Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Route / Travel Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/)

-   -   The Air Travel & Airports Discussion Thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/63892-air-travel-airports-discussion-thread-81.html)

My daughter-in-law plans to travel to Munich early next month. She has a layover of 14 hours in Frankfurt (overnight).

Are there any hotels attached to the airport? How much would they cost?

This apart, does she have to do immigration at Frankfurt or at Munich? She is traveling on a work visa/ blue card.

Depending on your budget, there are quite a few options just outside and inside Frankfurt airport. There's a Mercure & Ibis just a few km away from the airport, with pick-up & drop (used to be there, I had used their services a few years ago when travel was a lot more frequent).

IIRC, immigration happens at the port of entry, which in this case is Frankfurt.

For some weird reason, my org's travel desk would book us one-hop flight tickets for Bangalore to destinations in Germany, even though it's easier to fly till FRA and then ride an ICE train for the last leg rather than have a long layover at FRA which is usually the case.

Thanks. I have also explored the train option, but as she is traveling alone with around 75 kgs of luggage, it will be pretty tough for her to lug it around in the railway stations at Frankfurt and Munich.

I have stayed in almost all hotels near the airport in Frankfurt. All of these are located in an area called Gateway gardens and are literally next to each other barring a few which are located a bit remotely. Everything is more or less the same(considering the same star rating) but each hotel has a different policy for shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel and return. Hence choose the one which has free shuttle or include the shuttle cost in the comparison since it can vary from 3 EUR to 10 EUR. If she is already used to Germany then she can take an S Bahn from the Airport to Gateway gardens using a short trip ticket which is usually the most economical option. If it is her first time in Germany, then shuttle bus is the best option.

If budget is not a problem, there are two hotels attached to the airport, Sheraton and Hilton which cost more but are right outside of the airport terminal 1 and interconnected to the terminal but these cost upwards of 10k a night. This in comparison to the hotels in Gateway gardens which start at 4k(cheapest rates I have got).

Many thanks for your inputs. Shared this with her. But as she was traveling by Business Class, she called Air India and insisted that they provide a hotel for the 14-hour layover at Frankfurt. Luckily they agreed and will let her know the name a couple of days before she travels. Problem solved!

She will have to clear immigration at Frankfurt as Germany/ EU is final destination. If the Air ticket is already booked and one way, maybe she can get the train to Munich and instead of waiting at Frankfurt take the DB. But if the ticket is return, this may not be workable. In that case or otherwise, any hotel that offers shuttle should be fine.

Cleanliness or safety is not an issue irrespective of the price in Germany usually.

Edit- I read your reply later. Air India can be tricky. If she gets a firm booking confirmation before departure, it’s fine else be prepared for alternative as suggested above. Usually they will tell to approach Lufthansa when at destination and they will be clueless!

Are travellers with indian passports with Canada as final destination but with no American/Schengen visas allowed to transit through frankfurt?

If the connecting flight is with the same airlines (Lufthansa), does one have to change terminals/go through passport control at frankfurt? Is there a restriction on how long the layover can be?

Passed through Frankfurt enroute to USA number of times flying Lufthansa. There is no Terminal change requiring crossing Passport Control. So Schengen Visa is not required. Yes, for security purpose, you have to pass through Security again before boarding next flight.
I presume same must be applicable for flight to Canada too.

Is it the same for Munich and Berlin also? In case a flight has two stops, let's say del to frankfurt, frankfurt to Munich and finally Munich to Montreal will one have to pass through passport control?

There's the problem. The FRA - MUN flight would be domestic flight which would board and deboard domestic Passengers and you would be crossing the Passport Control . A Schengen Visa would definitely be required then.
I see no reason to fly FRA - MUN sector when flight to Munich from Delhi or to Montreal from Frankfurt are available.
Generally, if there is no flight to the destination City in the Country, the connecting flight takes you to another major city in that country, where you go through Passport Control and take a domestic flight to destination.

EU airports including FRA and MUC mostly have schengen and non schengen sections with passport control between two. Hence if you have a flight between two cities within schengen within schengen area, you will need a visa to be able to reach the gate of the flight.

No, you don’t need Visa if the connecting flight to Canada is from same airport and not via another in Germany or elsewhere in EU. I regularly used to fly Lufthansa Delhi- Frankfurt- Calgary. Usually the layovers are 3-6 hours maximum but it won’t be an issue even if longer. You are not allowed to cross the EU side and will always remain in the terminals handling outside EU flights.

However, you need to take care of entry requirements of Canada. As far as I know, they accept Tests done at Delhi Airport no later than 16 hours or so and only for Direct flights.

If you are taking connection via Lufthansa, you will need to get a test at Germany. I am not sure if Germany has such facilities, the last I heard from someone London does allow such tests and results are available in less than 6 hours. Also, Lufthansa may deny booking due to certain restrictions on the air bubble agreement. We still don’t have regular International flights.

If you haven’t booked the tickets yet, will advise to book via Air India/ Air Canada, expensive but no major hassles.

Canada is now accepting tests done from any accreditated lab in India within 72 hours of the departure of the final leg flight. Earlier, it was not possible to transit through EU (w/o schengen visa) because of the 3rd country testing requirement which means one needed to clear passport control to access the testing area.

Are you sure a covid test is needed at FRA to just transit through Frankfurt airport under current relaxed testing requirements? I no longer need a test from a 3rd country and can simply catch my onward connection w/o having to leave the non EU departure terminal

Yes, it appears they have indeed changed the guidelines.

Travellers must have a negative COVID-19 molecular test (PCR, RT-PCR, NAAT, RT-LAMP) result. The test must be taken a maximum of 72 hours before the scheduled departure of their last direct flight to Canada.


https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...:#sherpaResult

Regarding entry to Germany, I am sure that the same Covid negative report will work. However, you need to call Lufthansa directly and check if they are taking passengers for onward connections to Canada? In past, they were not citing Air-bubble violations. If they take, you should be good. Is the price difference too much to ignore the direct flights?

Yes, direct connections cost a bomb nowadays, if date of travel is just over a month off at around 1.4 l one way.
Found a KLM flight hopping at Amsterdam, learnt from their helpline that transit is possible with just a health declaration