SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

READER INSIGHTS

‘Horrible queues’: What Frankfurt airport is really like this summer

A recent survey placed two German airports among the worst in the world this summer for delayed flights. The Local readers told us Frankfurt airport is particularly bad.

Lots of people in Frankfurt airport in July.
Lots of people in Frankfurt airport in July. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Rumpenhorst

It’s well known that flying can be a nightmare at the moment, whether there are delays, cancellations, long queues or lost luggage. 

According to a recent ranking by FlightAware, Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt saw 45.4 percent of its flights delayed between May 26th and July 19th, while Munich airport had 40.4 percent of flights disrupted. 

We decided to ask The Local readers what their experience of flying to or from these airports has been this summer. 

Around 30 people answered our survey last week – and of those, just over 32 percent said their flight from one of these two German airports had been cancelled. Meanwhile, 60.7 percent of those surveyed said their flight was delayed. 

Missed connections

Frankfurt airport, which is airline giant Lufthansa’s main base, seemed to be the travel hub where people had experienced the most problems. 

The airline has struggled with staff shortages after cutting back its workforce during the pandemic travel restrictions. Around 6,000 flights have been cancelled from Frankfurt this summer. Lufthansa ground crew staff also recently held a strike over pay and conditions. 

Adding to the problem is that many people are off sick in Germany at the moment due to a high number of Covid infections.  

READ ALSO: Why is flying in Germany so expensive and chaotic right now?

Alison Townsend, 49, said: “No problems at Munich but major problems outwards at Frankfurt. Only a 30 minute delay but then hit the 45 minute non-EU passport queue and ridiculous distance between gates.

“I missed my connection so missed boarding my cruise in Athens and had a five-day catch-up to board it after with high hotel costs and expenses. Staffing levels were ok but lines for border control were too long.”

However, Townsend said both airports were “very good in terms of seating and shops plus food outlets”.

Craig, 68, who flew to and from Frankfurt, said: “It was chaos and clueless. No Lufthansa desks were open. And it was the third flight of my scheduled trip to be cancelled.”

Queues at Frankfurt airport in July.

Queues at Frankfurt airport in July. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Rumpenhorst

Nicolas, 37, flew to Marseille from Frankfurt, and said there were no staff there to tell passengers about their cancelled flight. 

“You feel very lonely in the big airport,” he said. “No one knew the right answer. I travel a lot around the world and I never felt that before.”

Another reader called Anna, 33, said she was put off from flying with Lufthansa after having her travel plans wrecked during recent strike action. Her outbound flight was delayed by 2.5 hours “and I missed the connecting flight”.

“Due to the strike I was left all alone in Munich with a toddler,” she said.

Tom Boon said he experienced lots of problems when flying with Lufthansa from or to Frankfurt. He said his return Lufthansa flight from London was “almost an hour late due to the aircraft not leaving Frankfurt on time to come to collect us in London City”.

Long queues at immigration

Lots of respondents mentioned the issue of waiting in line when arriving at Frankfurt airport. 

Balakrishnan, 41, who flew to Frankfurt from Abu Dhabi in July, said there were problems getting through passport control: “We waited nearly two hours in a long queue to clear immigration.

“Though the queue was too much, only two counters with four immigration officers were opened for non-EU passport holders.”

Paul, 52, flew to Frankfurt Airport at the end of July. He said: “Horrible queues for passport control, two people were there at 7.30am and there were queues of at least 200 people, stretching out of sight down the corridor.”

Source: Statista

Will the problems continue?

At the weekend, Lufthansa board member Christina Foerster told newspapers in the Funke Media group that flight operations were now “stabilised”.

“The low point has passed,” she said. However, Foerster said there were still major issues with staff having to take sick leave. 

Last week it also emerged that hundreds of new temporary employees from abroad, likely to be stationed at Munich, Frankfurt and Nuremberg airports, are set to join teams on the ground later this month. 

READ ALSO: German airports to recruit hundreds of emergency staff ‘in August’

And some readers said it’s not all that bad – even with the current staff shortages. 

Rebecca, 70, flew to Frankfurt airport on July 28th. 

Manual widget for ML (class=”ml-manual-widget-container”)

She said: “Flight arrived early. There was no line at passport control. Baggage arrived on the belt within 30 minutes. Shuttle to Terminal 1 was punctual.”

Steven, 35, said: “Munich had no issues at all, the airport was practically empty around 3pm. No baggage delays, customs did take a few minutes longer than usual. No other problems at all.”

Meanwhile, one reader said his worst experience was actually flying from another German airport – Cologne/Bonn. 

Angad, 28, said: “Security lines that were kilometres long and more than a two hour delayed flight. Fast track security that we paid for did not exist. Horrible, horrible experience.”

Tips and advice

We also asked readers for their suggestions on travelling at the moment. Here’s a summary of what they said:

  • Put a tracking device like an AirTag in checked baggage or only bring hand luggage 
  • Arrive earlier than usual for your flight, and be mindful of leaving time for connecting flights 
  • Wear trainers or comfortable shoes for getting through big airports quickly 
  • Lower your expectations 

Nick, 56, said: “Remain calm, other airports in the world are also going through the same issues.”

Another reader, Fiona, 54, said: “Don’t travel unless you really need to.”

Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our survey. Although we can’t include all the responses, we do read all of them and really appreciate you taking the time to share your views with us.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

CITIZENSHIP

‘Get in early’: Your tips for applying for German citizenship

Are you ready to apply for naturalisation in Germany? We asked readers about their experience applying for citizenship so far, and what tips they could share.

'Get in early': Your tips for applying for German citizenship

With Germany’s new dual citizenship rules officially coming into effect on June 27th, some prospective new Germans-to-be have been gathering documents and taking their language tests.

Yet, plenty of other candidates for naturalisation are still waiting to hear back about applications submitted months or even years ago.

The Local recently polled readers who were either already in the process of applying, or planning to apply for citizenship soon. Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent intend to apply for citizenship compared to 12 percent that were still unsure.

Additionally, six percent said they will not apply, and the remaining few had already naturalised.

READ ALSO: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

Here are some concerns and helpful tips from readers who have already started an application for citizenship.

How are current applications going?

Asked how the application process has been so far, those who have already applied or started putting together their applications had radically varied responses.

It seems that applying for naturalisation can be pretty straightforward or wildly frustrating, depending on where you live.

Some readers are having a relatively easy time with it, such as Nauman, from Pakistan, who notes that “in Berlin it is online, so all is good.” In the capital, the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) opened up a central office at the start of the year and has entirely digitalised its processes, from the initial screening to the application itself. 

Not too far away in Brandenburg, Elshafie, who is 35 from Sudan, told The Local: “I’m getting quick responses by email – sometimes same-day responses.” So far Elshafie, who has lived in Germany since 2017 and is married with one kid, has secured an appointment for submitting papers in June.

Another reader also called out the ease of applying via a new digital portal. A 30-year-old reader who has lived in Germany for six years called the process “smooth”, adding: “I am lucky to be a resident of Hamburg which is one of the few cities that now have a digital application process.”

But even in places where a new, digital application process exists, people who applied prior to the digital process are sometimes left waiting while newer applicants . Such is the case for thousands of applicants in Berlin, many of whom have been waiting for years already.

READ ALSO: ‘I’ve waited four years’ – Foreigners in Berlin furious over German citizenship delays

“I applied in September 2023, and heard nothing back so far,” said Dilara, 30, a Turkish-born resident living in Berlin. As a bit of a sarcastic tip to other readers, she suggested applying as soon as you enter the country because “it will take years anyways”.

Dilara is not the only applicant left waiting without an explanation. In fact, a lot of readers had some choice words for the process, which in many cases can be very quite long and opaque. 

Daria, 26, from Russia said she applied in August 2023 in the city of Gießen. “They said to wait 20 months for the work on my application to start,” she told The Local. “Now they’re saying to wait 22 months. They don’t tell the name of the person in charge of my application and don’t answer any questions regarding my case. I think of suing them a lot.”

Another applicant consulted a law firm after the naturalisation office in Landkreis Harz said that they weren’t offering further consultations this year due to the high demand.

“I had my citizenship test and B1 language certificate ready. The last document I need now is my pension insurance history, and I just found out that the reason I don’t have it, despite requesting it twice, is that my address on file was wrong,” said Ryan Thomas Sanders, 35, from the US.

Even for those applying from outside of Germany, long delays with no communication seems to be the norm rather than the exception here.

Veronica Dierick, 66, said she handed in her application for citizenship by descent to the German Embassy in Belgium on March 5th and is still waiting for a response. 

A citizenship applicants reads the German constitution.

A citizenship applicants reads the state constitution in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Marijan Murat

Advice from readers: gather your documents and start early

Bureaucratic processes in Germany are known to drive people crazy – even plenty of native-born Germans. 

So in some sense, the fraught process of applying for citizenship can be seen as the last, painful but vital step, toward truly becoming German.

That said, it’s definitely worth taking any and all extra precautions to make the process as easy as possible. So with that in mind, here are a few tips that might help.

Daria, who is still in the middle of a long wait on her own application, recommends making copies of all of your documents before sending them in, noting that she regrets not having done so herself – both to retain her own copies and also as means of proof of when and what she had submitted. 

She added, “We’re sitting in the same boat. Try to apply as soon as possible… as later you’ll regret that you haven’t applied sooner.”

Ryan Thomas Sanders suggests getting your language certificate and citizenship test out of the way early, even if you don’t yet meet the residency requirement: “These are probably two of the most time-consuming documents and you can and should get them taken care of early.”

Dani, 34, from the US said, “Always ask your local Amt about their current rules because they often differ from what is happening in Berlin or other larger cities.”

Meanwhile, Jon, 34, who has lived in Germany for five years provided an unsolicited endorsement for The Local, adding: “Because of this site, I’m feeling prepared and informed. I have everything ready to go once the applications are accepted for dual citizenship in June.”

He added that applicants should “stay organised and allow extra time for each step like getting test results, documents from an employer, or translations of original documents.”

All of which is great advice, and is aligned with the advice told to The Local by immigration lawyer Andreas Moser, who advises making sure your application is as neatly organised as possible.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED – How to get a speedy response on your German citizenship application

If you’ve met all the requirements, gathered all the papers, and presented it all as neatly as possible, the only thing left to do is wait and hope or pray for the best. 

SHOW COMMENTS