Be at the airport four hours early? You should really plan that much time for checking in and the like

Check-in, baggage drop-off and security screening – you have to clear these hurdles at the airport before you can get started.

You should plan that much time.

Finally traveling again, discovering other countries and getting to know cultures.

Many now want to make up for what was not possible in recent years due to the corona pandemic.

Above all, this means that more and more people want to fly away.

A stress test for airports, airlines and security personnel – but above all for your nerves.

Delays, cancellations and a lot of time at the security checkpoint are what you can expect when you decide to travel by air.

Be at the airport four hours before departure?

You need to know

“However, the great desire to travel and the current rapid increase in offers also entail major challenges at various points in the travel chain,” writes Norbert Fiebig, President of the German Travel Association on its own website.

During the Corona pandemic, many employees were made redundant and now this shortage cannot be compensated for quickly enough.

Many flights by Lufthansa and the subsidiaries Eurowings and Swiss have therefore already been canceled for July.

Domestic flights and flights within Europe, which would mostly depart from Frankfurt and Munich airports, are particularly affected by the cancellations.

You can do this if your flight has been cancelled.

There is a shortage of staff and overwork in flight handling, passenger control and flight attendants.

For air travelers, this means that they have to reckon with cancellations and delays and, if necessary, have to reschedule at short notice.

+

Long queues at security checkpoints.

You should plan more time at the airport now.

(icon picture)

© Rainer Droese/imago

So you can go on vacation relaxed without being at the airport four hours earlier

• Use

  the evening before or

  online check-in

• Take little hand luggage

  with you (and what you take with you should already be sorted)

• Find out in advance about

  possible entry documents

  that you may need

• Check in luggage via the

  self-check-in machines

  or hand them in the evening before

You should urgently avoid these mistakes in travel cancellation insurance

You should urgently avoid these mistakes in travel cancellation insurance

Be at the airport earlier: You should definitely plan two and a half hours

You should plan enough time for arriving at the airport and the security check, especially during the holiday season and at peak times.

Exactly how long you should be there beforehand varies from airline to airline.

Basically you should be at the airport around

two and a half hours

before departure time if you

are flying

within Europe .

If you have an

intercontinental flight

ahead of you, you should be at the airport

at least

three hours in advance.

At

the beginning of the holidays

you should

generally have a little more time

Plan ahead, especially if you haven’t checked in your bags yet.

Also note that you can lose time on the outward journey to the airport due to train delays or traffic jams on the roads.

List of rubrics: © Rainer Droese/imago