Nightmare Transfers

[CHIVILCOY]

Maybe it's just me but it seems to be more common for airports to transfer PAX from aircraft to terminal by bus these days.In the last year it has happened to me at CDG,MADRID,AMSTERDAM ETC,ETC.

What I object to is the way everbody is crammed onto these buses especially after all the safety considerations one is asked to go through during the flight.

After a long haul one is subjected to having to stand for ages in hot/cold temperatures as you wait for the neverending stream of people boarding the darned thing then having sweaty bodies:yuk: pressed against you and heavy feet standing on your toes:mad: as the driver makes his eratic way to the terminal using heavy braking and acceleration at all times.:eek:

Who is responsible for safety on these dangerous journeys? the airline? the airport? or the ground handling people?

[rsoman]

Well
The likesvof Easy and Ryan will naturally settlle for the lowest quote in ground handling with the lowest legal required number of staff and equipment.
And many airports including some UK ones give a rebate in charges if you use a remote stand (ie no airbridge).

Cheers

[Momo]

Certainly Madrid dos not have enough gates for the number of flights, so buses are inevitable. Same at Munich and CSG2 Terminal B in any case.

Another reason is Schengen/Non-schengen terminal splits. Even if a plane arrives at an air bridge, you may still be asked to go to a bus so that you can arrive on the appropriate side of the Schengen barrier. The principle is that the airline should be convenienced, not the passengers, if the following flight needs to leave from that part of the terminal. (The alternative would be to have the passengers disembark at the correct side, the tow the plane to the other side.

Air bridges do not go low enough for many regional aircraft, leading to remote parking.

Believe it or not, your official arrival time are supposed to be when the bus arrives at the terminal, where parking is always remote for a particular flight.

[Anti Skid On]

I got on an ATR72 the other day via an airbridge, and there ain't many Aircraft as close to the ground as those!

[OzPax1]

ASO...That's coz the airbrige was probably designed and installed with the intention of servicing such aircraft. The airbridges are all built to order, and are 'one off specials' for that airport. The wider the range of movement (height & length etc) the higher the cost.

You'll find most airports have a 'range' of different types of airbridge to suit the different types of aircraft operated into that airport

[Boss Raptor]

To be fair I fly to Madrid on Air Europa regularly and they always have the buses at the stand within max. 2 mins of the aircraft arriving and sometimes they are even waiting...it's a quick on off and round to the arrivals door...Iberia are usually good and quick as well...Madrid is a nice airport, baggage seems to arrive quickly, I can be off the plane and off into town within 15 mins even with hold luggage...

The worst used to be Brussels on Sabena where you would arrive at 0430 in the morning from Banjul or other West African originators...be marched off the plane always on a remote stand as it appeared everyone parked up for the night at the main pier..left to wait outside in winter temperatures below freezing waiting for buses which were few and far between...then be dumped by the driver at one of many obscure entrances to find your way to arrivals...no signs, no guidance...the driver just appeared to dump you where ever they felt like it!

Didn't stop there...transfer desks with only 2 personnel to see 3 A330 loads of pax...45 minute wait in line...go upstairs not a place open even to get a cup of coffee...2-3 hour wait for the final leg back to UK!!

[jethrobee]

I would say the worst nightmare airport for transfers is Mumbai when you arrive on a domestic flight and are intending to travel to an international destination.

First you have the bus between the aircraft and the domestic terminal, then you have to grab your bags, and scrabble for the queue to the bus that takes you to the international terminal.

This queue takes normally over an hour, actually after around an hour I gave up and went outside to take a taxi. Where 20 minutes and a good fleecing later I managed to arrive at the international terminal, where I managed to get through passport control and customs. Lucky I had allowed a couple of hours for the transfer, any less and I would have missed the flight.

[newarksmells]

try and avoid Dallas especially if you were on American and you have to connect with another carrier. Ditto for Hartsfield in Atlanta and Delta. Long terminal walks and a couple of train rides. As sure as heck, you won't make it in 30 minutes unless you're connecting to American and Delta respectively and them more likely than not you won't either.

[paulc]

The old Athens airport used to be interesting. I remember arriving on a domestic flight from Crete (on Olympic B720 in 1979) only to have a 30 minute bus ride to get to internation side of the airport.

More recently Paris CDG - can be bad depending on how far you arrival and departure gates are apart