Zurich transfer

[Flock1]

I'm flying from Manchester to Moscow soon with Swiss (or Helvetic). I'll be changing planes at Zurich.

The times I've got are as follows:

I'll arrive Zurich at 1150. I then leave Zurich for Moscow at 1230. This leaves a window of 40 mins, which a Swiss representative tells me is fine.

But I checked todays flights - the same ones I'll be travelling on. The Man -Zur flight landed at 12:05, twenty minutes late. That leaves a window of only 25 mins to get the next flight with my luggage!

Usually boarding is 30 mins before take off, so if today's scenario happens to me, what will happen? Will the Moscow flight be delayed and wait for me. Or will I be left in Zurich?

Also, will the Manchester flight (operated by Helvetic) terminate in the same general area as my flight to Moscow (operated by Swiss).

Hope this makes snese.

Flock1

[PAXboy]

If it's any comfort ... if you have booked a through ticket then any delay is for Swiss to make up. If you miss the connection, they have to look after you at their expense (an you inconvenience!). If they said the connection could be made - then they must make it work.

Whilst I have never done a transit at ZRH, it sounds very tight on time.

[manintheback]

I have transferred through Zurich, its a big airport and a big new terminal there too plus a central terminal which if mem serves me right is only accessible via an undergreund train to the others. If arriving/leaving from same terminal you have a chance but its very very tight.

[five zero by ortac]

Hi Flock1
As long as you are on a Swiss ticket that covers both sectors and have checked in your bags, you will have no problem. You will be given a boarding card for your second sector at MAN indicating the gate. Read the Swiss Magazine during the flight as it has a gate map. Follow Transfers route on arrival.
I transfer through ZRH regularly and have never had problems, it has to be the best place in (sort of) Europe to transfer.
Helvetic normally park on remote stands, but bus will take you to arrivals door which couldn't be any closer to transfers if you tried.
Remember, this is Switzerland, everything runs like clockwork. Were not talking UK airport chaos here. :ok:
Regards.

[spanishflea]

I'm sorry, but your Helvetic flight will not operate on time. It has an appalling punctuality record departing from Manchester for one reason or another, and that usually gets exacerbated by some ATC restriction either from London, Paris or both.

The Fokker also arrives onto a remote stand at Zurich. Whilst the buses are usually there to greet you, it still adds a further 5-10 minutes onto the transfer time.

All departing flights from Zurich close 10 minutes before departure. After that point the flight will be removed from the departure boards, and there is nothing the ground staff can do, other than confirm it is not on the board.

So even if you arrive onto stand bang on time, that only actually gives you 20 minutes to get to your gate.

Unfortunatley that time of the morning is extremely busy for transfers at ZRH, so expect some very big queues at the transfer desk to get rebooked. I had to wait 2 hours during Davos week, and there were far more people behind me than in front of me.

If you dont have Star Alliance status of any kind, and if your rebooking involves a long layover, which I suspect it will, then try and persuade the Swiss staff to give you a lounge pass. The ZRH lounge is very very good indeed, with the largest staffed bar in any worldwide airport lounge!

[The SSK]

According to the latest Association of European Airlines data (http://www.aea.be/AEAWebsite/webrsc/SerQlty/PRP_Q306.pdf)(3rd quarter 2006) 41% of Swiss departures from Manchester were delayed by more than 15 minutes, and the average delay (per delayed flight) was 34.7 minutes.
Your best hope is that there are a lot of Moscow passengers on the incoming flight.

[Flock1]

This is depressing news. I thought the 40 minute envelope might not be enough, even with the assurance of the Swiss Representative. And now it seems my fears have been confirmed

What makes it worse is that I'm only going to be in Moscow for 2 nights, with hotels already booked (at 250 quid per night!) If I miss one of these then I'll be mightily p***ed off, as well as being out of pocket.

What makes it doubly worse is the fact I'll also be transiting Zurich in 2 weeks time, also with Swiss, from Manchester to Budapest.

Times are:

MAN-ZRH 1345-1640 (Helvetic)
ZRH-BUD 1720-1905 (Swiss I think)

which leaves another 40 minute transfer window.

This is another 2 day trip where every day counts and being stuck in Switzerland will not help.

But what can I do now?

Flock1

[spanishflea]

Get some jogging practice in?

Seriously though, as ever with aviation these days there are never any guarentees, and when it comes to timekeeping on connecting flights you automatically reduce your chances of keeping to schedule.

However 40% is not "always" as I said in my first post, theres still more chance you'll make the connection perfectly fine, and most people still do.

Your one potential saving grace is that MAN-MOW fares have typically been about £100 less on Swiss than any other airline, so hopefully there will be a few other connecting passengers. If just one of them has Star Gold status, or there is anyone coming from somewhere like LCY or EDI with status and is similarly delayed, it is likely that the connection will be protected. On a typically higher yielding route like Moscow those chances are also much increased.

I'm pretty sure theres usually a 2nd DME flight from ZRH anyway is there not? If not, one possible option would be to pay the change fee and fly out on the evening flight the night before and overnight in Zurich. If the trip is important, and especially if you risk losing a non-refundable Moscow hotel room, then £100 or so for a night in Zurich is well worth it.

[AlphaWhiskyRomeo]

My experience of 40 min transfers at ZRH is limited to 1st flights in the morning, which are more likely to be on time.

However, it is not unknown to make the connection but for luggage not to - I wouldn't be surprised if that made things pretty tricky in Moscow.

They would be unlikely to delay the Moscow flight unless a lot of people had a late connection. Try your hardest to take all essential items (changee of clothes) as hand luggage and try to persuade Helvetic to check your hold luggage in at the aircraft side and reclaim it at ZRH, before taking it to the gate of your Moscow departure.

The size of the Moscow aircraft and the no. of passengers flying will determine when boarding opens - 30mins before pushback or 15mins, for example.

[PAXboy]

Swiss has three a day to DME. I picked next Wednesday 14th at random but this would appear to be the regular weekday sechedule:

LX 1334 Zurich Moscow (DME) 07:00 - 14 Feb 14:00 - 14 Feb
LX 1326 Zurich Moscow (DME) 12:30 - 14 Feb 17:55 - 14 Feb
LX 1324 Zurich Moscow (DME) 20:35 - 14 Feb 01:59 - 15 Feb


Buda is also three a day - date two weeks hence at random.
LX 2250 Zurich Budapest 07:25 - 28 Feb 09:05 - 28 Feb
LX 2254 Zurich Budapest 12:30 - 28 Feb 14:10 - 28 Feb
LX 2258 Zurich Budapest 17:25 - 28 Feb 19:05 - 28 Feb

[Flock1]

Since finding out my possible torment at Zurich, I've been looking closely at the arrival times of my flight from MAN and then the departure times to BUD. The times at the top are the scheduled times.

DAY 1640 (arr Man) 1720 (dep BUD)

MON 1643 1725
TUE 1651 1733
WED 1629 1725

Which sounds fairly good I think....

[Momo]

If you are flying with Helvetic (seems unclear) for one leg, Swiss will take no responsibility if another airline is late. Swiss on both should be no issue. Both flights go to terminal A, so no issue with the long trek to terminal E, which is now long haul only.

Momo

[AlphaWhiskyRomeo]

Isn't it operated by Helvetic for Swiss under Swiss flight numbers?

In that case, it would be Swiss' responsibility.

[Flock1]

Yes, Swiss is responsible for all. I booked online with Swiss, and when the flight detials came through, I noticed that Helvetic operate the MAN-ZRH sector.

[Flock1]

Well I got to Budapest. But not with Swiss. Upon arrival at Manchester, the Swiss desk asked us if we'd mind changing flights due to overbooking. This deal was sweetened with the promise of 250 Euros for us both. So we ended up flying to Prague with Czech Airlines and then onto Budapest with Malev. So a good deal I think.

The way back was through Zurich. We made the connection on time, but I think this was largely due to it being the same aircraft. The security lines were quite long, and any delay would've caused us problems I think.

Going to Moscow still worries me. I just hope the fight is overbooked and they ask us to fly via somewhere else.