Didn't think it was that bad (Frankfurt International Airport (FRA))

Member Name: moronboy

Product:	Frankfurt International Airport (FRA)
Date:	26/10/00 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not the worst

Disadvantages: Big and sprawling

Six years ago I had to travel with Lufthansa to the States, and had to change at Dusseldorf on the way and Frankfurt on the way back. The combination of smokers, the entire absence of places to buy a drink, brutalist architecture and security guards toting machine guns put me off any idea of going near a German airport ever again.

But, inevitably, we went to Namibia this year (fabulous place, and nearly all the reviews of it on Dooyou are by me so stop by and enjoy them!) and had to pass through. On the way, we just stayed on the plane, but on the way back we had to change planes, and were thus cast into a place that ever since 1995 I have been assuring people was an annex of hell.

Given the other review of the airport here, it seems odd that I'm going to say that I thought Frankfurt wasn't that bad. Yes, it was crowded, and we had to change terminals, but I thought the monorail was a good thing. I don't believe it's possible for an airport to be that big without a certain amount of chaos and sprawl. You're never going to convince me that any airport is much worse than Heathrow. Moreover, Frankfurt has been aggressively done up so it's all bright and shiny.

Moreover, and this was crucial after twelve hours overnight on a plane from West Africa, it wasn't hard to negotiate for someone who doesn't speak German. I know we Brits don't have much to be proud of in terms of language speaking, but at this point, I was happy to find signs and announcements in English. We did find people at the information desks, and they spoke in English (and a bunch of other languages) without a hint of complaint.

Summary: