Adventures with Lufthansa and FTU Amsterdam – What is the meaning of the words “Reasonable Connection” at Frankfurt?

Adventures with Lufthansa and FTU Amsterdam – What is the meaning of the words “Reasonable Connection” at Frankfurt?

• Would I like to speak at FTU? Umm. Yes!
• To the airport, LH953 Birmingham to Frankfurt
• An (un)expected extended layover
• LH996 Frankfurt to Birmingham (Business Class)
  
• The Park Inn Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
• Speaking at FTU Amsterdam
• LH997 Amsterdam Schiphol to Frankfurt Main
  
• What is the meaning of the words “Reasonable Connection” at Frankfurt? (This section)
• LH958 Frankfurt to Birmingham 
• Learning goes both directions

With the 1 hour 45 connection dropping to 1 hour 10, and by the time the buses got moving, the connection was down to an hour – danger territory depending on where my next flight was from.

With the bus finally loaded, it was time for the long drive to Terminal 1, with another 10 minutes down by the time the bus reached the terminal.

With the bus at the Schengen A gates arrival, it was time to run. And in so many words, I bolted it…

With an arrival at A gates, I had to track back through the A terminal, down the underpass (which was a run in itself), and finally popping back up in the B gates.

Sharp left!

B Gates at last

Thankfully, there was no security re-clearance. All that faced me was the EU/International Border. That was dispensed with a minimal of fuss – and with 30 minutes on the clock to departure, I started to slow down a bit.

Eventually, I made to gate B28 – thankfully, an air-bridge gate. Boarding was nowhere near ready to begin – so I took my time to recompose myself… well after a mad rush like that I needed something. And it certainly was recomposing. Something alcoholic might had been better, but as it was past my personal 12 hours limit before I would be driving again – that was out of the question.

Instead, I got some Haribo Goldbears. They taste better than the ones made in the UK. That’s my line, and I’m sticking to it.

Before boarding began, there was a full document check. Annoying, but that’s how they want to roll…

Hmm. Nonstop paperwork.

Boarding begun eventually, with pre-boarders, Star Gold and Business, and finally everyone else – disregarding the monitor screens that divided the cabin into two into rear boarding rows and forward rows.

But at this point, I did as requested, and blipped my boarding pass – and headed to the jetbridge and down to the last plane of this trip.

Next: LH958 Frankfurt to Birmingham

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