Is 1 hr between arrival in Frankfurt and flight departure with Etihad Airways enough?

Upvote:11

That connection will be very difficult to make. If you did not book the train and plane on one ticket, then Etihad doesn't owe you anything since you did not appear. They are not responsible for connections they did not book. You seem to place much value on your time and do not like being delayed at airports. So I suggest a different approach.

Build recovery time into your plans.

The airport is served by long-distance trains. However it is also served by short-distance trains - S8 and S9 - into a different station inside the airport. Short-distance trains tend to be much more reliable on timekeeping - "15 minutes late" is a lot for them.

I would look closely at the short distance trains that serve the airport, and find a pleasant location along their route that you can include in your travel plans. For instance both S8 and S9 trains seem to fairly directly serve the Frankfurt city center.

So I would plan my travel so that the long-distance train takes me into Frankfurt. I would plan hours of pleasant activities such as restaurants, museums and shopping. Then plan to take the short distance rail to the airport to arrive at the recommended time. The short train is unlikely to be greatly delayed. (and if it is delayed, take a taxi cab).

This leisure period serves as "recovery time" if the long-haul train is delayed. If it is late, you must sacrifice some of your leisure time in Frankfurt, but you will still be able to take your short-haul train on time to the airport, and arrive as planned. You miss a museum, instead of your flight :)

Upvote:33

Is that enough?

No. I strongly recommend against that.

You'll be arriving at "Fernbahnhof" which is pretty far away from the Terminal 1 building and you still need to get to Terminal 2 where Etihad departs. That's quite a trip

From here

Passengers at Terminal 2 can reach the long-distance train station at Frankfurt Airport within 30 minutes. Simply take the Sky Line trains which connect the terminals. They take about 7 to 10 minutes to arrive at their destination and are free to use. Free yellow shuttle buses leave from Terminal 1, Level 1, Area B. Sky Line trains also leave from this area for Terminal 2.

Skyline is closed until June 29th. If you fly before that date you will have to take the shuttle.

Etihad check in Frankfurt closes 1 hour before departure (link)

To make matters worse: German Train reliability has deteriorated significantly. About half of the long distance trains I have taken over the last few years where either significantly delayed or cancelled all together.

So it's not entirely impossible: if you get very lucky at every step along the journey and are fast on your feet (with luggage) you may be able to make it, but I wouldn't risk it.

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