Even for an aviation enthusiast like me, travelling as passenger through Frankfurt and Heathrow, two major european hub is not a fully enjoyable perspective. Queues, delays, security screenings… To make it more enjoyable, I tried an experience: measure the exact time it takes – or the exact amount of time lost. I added some personal thoughts to make it more interesting to read… Here we go.

18:00 – My train reaches the Frankfurt airport station. Four minutes later I reach the check-in area. Not too bad. My electronic boarding pass says gate is B31, but the displays do not indicate any gate yet. I prefer to wait, just in case of a last-minute change. Other flights to Heathrow and London City are delayed, from 30 to 90 minutes. Shall I try to change for another flight ? Are there problems in the London airspace ? Patience…

18:26 – Gate B31 is confirmed. It’s now time to pass security screenings. Twice, this is a particularity at Frankfurt. Last time I went throuh, the queue was 45 minutes long, and this is exactly why I’m here so early. Surprisingly, I reach my boarding area after twelve minutes only ! Including security screening, passport check, and a second security screening. Strangely, I beeped only at the second one… don’t ask. After putting my laptop back in my case, and all my keys, wallet, phone in my pockets, I’m at the gate.

19:01 – Boarding starts. Or at least pre-boarding. Passengers are requested to enter a closed area, which can be accessed only with a boarding pass. Double checking ? No. At 19:27, the gate opens, and we can descend to a bus without having to show a boarding pass again. Clever idea to give more time to passengers, to avoid queue at the gate.

19:30 - The bus starts. The drive seems really long, but it’s indeed five minutes only. I’m seated in the plane at 19:38. Boarding is by far not over. The third and final bus reaches the plane at 19:48. Looking at the tarmac, I see a firebrigade truck with blue flashlights passing-by. Not an exercise… this could mean long delays.

19:52 – The senior cabin attendant announces “Boarding completed”. Sounds good.

19:57 – The captain announces ten minutes of delay, because of traffic in the London area. Not good.

20:02 – Push-back. If you remember well, the bus drive was because the aircraft was not at the terminal, but parked in the middle of the tarmac. Why pushing-back out of a paking ? Don’t ask. After seven minutes of taxi, we reach the holding point of runway 18.

20:11 – Take-off, behind a Boeing 747. If I exclude the waiting times, the total time in movement was 30 minutes.

The routing is above Brussels – Belgium is still wonderfully illuminated at night – at Flight Level 320. At this altitude, crossing the English Channel is not really an issue. We could probably glide all the way to London. Why do we start descent at the exact time where I think of that ? The view of London at night is simply incredible – too bad that my camera is in the overhead compartment. We enter a holding pattern over the city (Biggin-Hill VOR ?). I’m stuck against the window. Am I the only one on board enjoying to fly a hold, looking at the City Airport, the Millenium Dome, and Canary Wharf ?

21:24 – We turn on final, and land on runway 09L at 21:28.

21:33 – Oh-oh. Our taxi is interrupted. I guess that our gate is not yet ready. We are in an intermediate parking, waiting… We landed five minutes ago, let’s see how long the extra delay will be.

21:40 – We’re at the gate. 12 minutes after landing, not exactly a record. On the plus side, this is a Lufthansa flight, not British Airways. We’re at the Terminal 2, not at the so problematic Terminal 5.

21:50 – Ten minutes after reaching the gate, I’m in the Terminal 1,2,3 underground station. I’m positively surprised. 26 minutes from landing to train, that’s well better than what I imagined.

Ready for the trip back ? Here we go.

11:02 – My train reaches the underground station. Five minutes later I’m in the check-in area, and at 11:12, I have my boarding pass in hand. Not so bad as I had to change flight – I was a bit earlier than expected, and this was a chance… you’ll see why later on.

11:14 – I enter the security queue. Interestingly, my laptop can remain in my case, making things easier. Easier, but not quicker. The queue goes on slowly, and after twelve minutes, I’m through. Twelve minutes ? Just like in Frankfurt. Interesting…

12:02 – The gate number is confirmed. Eleven minutes later, I’m waiting there, and managed to change my seat during pre-boarding. Flying in an aisle seat was simply not possible. And this time my camera will remain at hand. Just as in Frankfurt, passengers are in a small enclosed area, avoiding the need for a second boarding pass check.

12:44 – After a boarding call per rows, starting from the back to avoid queueing-up in the plane, I’m seated, observing the parking system, and planes in the nearby stands.

13:07 – Push-back. Taxi starts, and we reach the holding point. There are several jets waiting for take-off, including a Singapore Airlines Airbus 380 ! Wow. Changing flight, and then changing seat was really a good idea. I’m not the only one taking pictures of the double-decker.

13:26 – Take-off. 21 minutes from push-back to take-off. Not really good. But the spectacle of the A380 taking-off, and of another Boeing 747 waiting behind us was certainly worth it. Well, at least for those like me who enjoyed the show. For all the other passengers, that probably seemed like an eternity.

I profit from the nice weather to spot airports, and other aircraft during the flight. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to identify all of them, and name them in comments.

On final, we overfly the Frankfurt forest, where a VOR and a direction finder are located. And shortly before landing, the motorway from which I took some aircraft pictures. Am I the first car-spotter taking pictures from a plane ?

14:27 – We land on runway 25R, and reach our parking position after 3 minutes only. Good point.

14:36 – The captain announces that there is no bus available, and that we’ll have to wait. I don’t know if there are some tensions between Lufthansa and the airport, but he made it very clear that this was a Frankfurt Airport problem, and not a Lufthansa one.

14:45 – The bus finally starts. 18 minutes after landing – there is certainly room for improvement.

14:52 – The bus reaches the terminal. A strange employee want to send me in the Non European Union queue. He’s probably not aware of the treaties between EU and Switzerland. I detour him, and join the “quick” queue.

14:59 – I reach the public area. After 5 minutes, I’m at the train station.

Now, the results. I totalized the time moving through the airports, not the waiting time, because being there early was my own decision. Waiting is not exactly pleasant, but it has nothing to do with time spent in queues, or being screened, in a bus, or taxiing. These are really consequences of airport design.

Frankfurt to Heathrow: 52 minutes. Heathrow to Frankfurt: 1h23. Departing Frankfurt takes 16 minutes in the terminal, and 14 minutes in bus and plane, departing Heathrow takes 26 minutes in the terminal, and 19 in the plane. Arriving at Heathrow takes 22 minutes from landing to train, arriving at Frankfurt takes 38 minutes.

This is certainly not representative, it’s a single test, and my own experience at both airports shown that they be much more “efficient” at delaying passengers. Was that luck, or a consequence the announcement of my intention to do this test ? If the trip was not Heaven, it was by far not Hell. Both airports have room for improvement (direct boarding at Frankfurt, quicker security and less taxi delay at Heathrow), but the whole thing was survivable.

I’d really like to know more about your opinions and experience about these two airports, or any other. Feel free to comment about it.

Click here to see all the pictures I took on the LHR – FRA flight.