Frankfurt Airport Reviews 

Frankfurt Airport is huge, clunky, and completely disorganized. It is absolutely not efficient. I’ve been to both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and honestly, it’s a mess. There are barely any places to sit—passengers are left standing or wandering aimlessly with nowhere to rest. Facilities? Almost nonexistent.

The transfer between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 is a joke. They run a random bus that’s clearly nowhere near enough for the number of passengers. You end up cramped and stressed just trying to get from one terminal to the other.

And don’t even get me started on passport control — it’s a total disaster. Long lines, slow processing, and zero organization. it looks like border officer are interested in practising their English. It feels like they’ve designed everything to make the passenger experience as frustrating as possible.

If you’re looking for a smooth, comfortable airport experience, Frankfurt is the last place you want to be.

Terrible airport, run down, unorganised and absolutely filthy. I have used this airport many times in the past as I am from Frankfurt but it has gotten worse and worse over the years. My 2 most recent experiences sum it up well:
1) terminal 1 is absolutely chaotic, overcrowded and it feels like a terminal that was patched together over the years lacking a clear structure, signage and organisation. One example is the oversized baggage section for Lufthansa. The signing actually suggests animal/pet luggage and the queue to get to the counter is held behind a walkway, not directly at the counter with 0 signage. We had to ask 2 people to actually find it. The staff there was also incredibly slow and absolutely unimpressed by a massive line and this during peak school holiday season.
2) the security check is the worst organised and slowest in the world. I have never seen such a malfunctioning security check with staff not moving at all, lines through the roof and the staff acting with the motivation and speed of a sloth. Instead of asking people to add their belongings to baskets and proceeding through the scanner like any other airport they only allow one person at a time to fill baskets and people can only proceed through the scanner once their bag has been pushed through the scan. Let alone the demotivation and slowness of the staff to actually lift a finger. This makes absolutely no sense and just adds a ton of frustration and massive queues.
3) cleanliness and overall state of facilities. Toilets and seating areas in this airport are absolutely filthy and require a deep clean with the most toxic chemicals available as well as more routine maintenance. All bathrooms smell like urine and are dirty, so you don’t want to touch anything. Additionally people leave their rubbish everywhere and it’s not picked up leading the seating areas being contaminated and just simply gross. Most compelling example is the seating area upstairs in terminal 2 before the boarding pass scanner. It went so far that a homeless person must have left their beddings there with filthy blankets and sheets abandoned at the seats, people’s hair, fast food garbage and generally already gross looking seats from another century and on top of it in white which obviously looks disgusting after a few years. Seriously what the hell.
4) fraport has outsourced its staffing to Wisag which do a terrible job with unskilled und unfriendly personnel that has absolutely no clue what they are doing leading to long waits, rudeness and a very poor experience.

This airport really is an embarrassment and I cannot believe that this is the standard at Germanys most busiest airport. Fraport better be getting their act together before the next earnings call.

Queues everywhere. Toilets either closed or filthy. Staff who seem to hate both their jobs and the people using the airport. Only opportunity to buy water after transfer security required a thirty minute queue. Would never fly Lufthansa again as it means transferring through this Kip of a place.

I’ve been in and out of the Frankfurt airport since the 70’s and is as if it hasn’t been updated since. How can an international airport operate without updated waiting areas with electronic chargers. I have high expectations of Lufthansa & their staff, and yet more than once I was spoken to rudely and impatiently. Then I was shifted from one customer service desk to the next. In addition, the place was repulsive in its lack of cleanliness. The limited dining options in Z & A hall is ridiculous. Where are the airport guides and dining maps?

It’s as if there is a disconnect between the airport itself and the people it serves who are traveling - sometimes for great distances and after unbelievable delays. The whole experience reiterates my dislike of the airport. I was only there as a result of being rerouted - not as a result of my own personal choice.

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) was, by far, the most disappointing airport I’ve visited, compared to others in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Seoul, Tokyo and more… My experience at gates D1-D4 was particularly unpleasant. The staff were rude and unprofessional, and the area had an unpleasant odor, despite no restroom being nearby. The nearest restroom required leaving the secure area or waiting to board the plane.

At security, the staff appeared disengaged, laughing and chatting while conducting random pat-downs. In my case, I was patted down for no apparent reason—nothing triggered the scanner. When I asked why, the officer claimed it was due to my belt, but I wasn’t wearing one. He then suggested I leave my passport in the bin with a belt next time, which made no sense. I was frustrated but chose to walk away.

Overall, Frankfurt Airport felt outdated, poorly managed, and the staff’s unprofessional behavior made the experience worse. As a traveler from the US, this made me appreciate American airports even more. I used Frankfurt Airport and Lufthansa 30 years ago and had a similarly negative experience, vowing never to return. Unfortunately, I had no choice this time, but I will avoid this airport in the future.

Sincerely,
A Disappointed Traveler from the US

Horrible staff treated disrespectfully and we were shown extreme and extensive racism. Overall airport is dirty and smells bad. Would not recommend. Never going to that atrocious airport ever again.

I’ve been all over the world and the Frankfurt airport has, without a doubt, the rudest airport staff I’ve ever encountered. Awful experience.

This airport is by far the worst I’ve ever seen. There is absolutely no cleanliness or hygiene — trash is everywhere, bathrooms are disgusting, and nothing seems to be maintained. The lack of basic infrastructure is shocking: it’s just an old, crumbling building with no signs of modern facilities, services, or organization.

There are no customer services, no staff to assist, and the few people working there seem completely indifferent. It honestly felt like the airport had been abandoned. Even more disturbing, there appeared to be people living inside the terminal — possibly drug addicts — and no one was doing anything about it. This made the environment not only uncomfortable but unsafe.

How this place is even allowed to operate as an international airport is beyond me. This is not just inconvenient — it’s unacceptable. Authorities need to step in and either shut it down or completely rebuild it from scratch.

Avoid this airport at all costs. If you have the option, fly somewhere else.

Two years ago I wrote a review after waiting over an hour for my luggage. New visit same s**t. FRAport seems incapable of improving its performance and indifferent to feedback.

Frankfurt airport is so big , lacks signage , staff are non existent or not helpful or rude . Just to find the Singapore desks alone was a nightmare ! I love Germany and most of the people are wonderful but something has to be done to make the airport more tourist friendly!!!

This is by far the worst airport in the world. As per normal only 1 aircraft in out terminal to unload and we still have to wait an hour or our luggage. Passport control always has more lanes closed than open and the staff are generally the most unfriendly and unhelpful that you would ever meet at an airport

Absolutely the worst airport ever! I have never been spoken to so rudely in my whole life, some of the staff were abrupt but not rude but the baggage check staff were unbelievable! One older guy actually shouted at me to put my case in a tray just because I accidentally misunderstood him and put my case on the belt directly! And the reason I misunderstood him was because instead of asking me he simply pointed at a tray!! Vile staff!

I swear this is the worst airport in History , what a mess 4 hours as a lay over is not enough to locate you self, why would i need to exit the airport if I have a transit ???? facilities , lounges and staff all awful , I cannot believe my self retuning back at anytime to this place , avoid by all means !!!!!

Gate area staff were frankly awful. There are no seat areas before gates. Then at gates none! Unless flight is boarding you can’t go in area. Passport control was more relaxed than the gate area. D 1-4 gates staff were just rude. We were told to use an empty gate, the staff refused and asked who said ok!? Hour later still nobody in the area they were *busy* with. Worst airport unless you are leaving straight away!

I had a very disappointing experience at Frankfurt Airport. The airport is poorly managed and uncomfortable for travelers:

The air-conditioning is very poor — the terminals were extremely hot and stuffy, which makes waiting for flights really unpleasant, especially during transit.

The terminals are not clean enough, with dirty areas and trash bins not emptied regularly.

Moving inside the airport is exhausting: the walking distances are very long, and you need to walk endlessly just to reach gates, connections, or basic services.

Transferring between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 is horrible — you must take a bus shuttle, which often involves standing in a very long queue, wasting valuable time during a layover.

The signage is confusing and inconsistent. It’s easy to get lost, and there are not enough clear directions to important services like baggage storage or prayer rooms.

The choice of restaurants is very limited and disappointing, with few decent food options, especially for families or people with dietary restrictions.

Overall, Frankfurt Airport feels disorganized, uncomfortable, and stressful, especially compared to other major European hubs. I do not recommend using FRA for transit if you can avoid it — and I hope the airport authority takes serious steps to improve air-conditioning, cleanliness, signs, and transfer logistics.

Absolutely one of the worst Airports to have a connecting flight. If you only have 1 hour or less layover, forget about it you will 100% miss your flight. The walk from where your plane lands to the gate you are going to is very very far. You have to walk almost 30min to your connecting flight, but not just that. You have to go through security check again when you just came out from the damn plane few minutes ago. Worst thing is they had to hand check every bag we have even though we followed and took out everything before the scan. They also had to body check me just because.... And also before I forget. They had to check my passport when you step out of the plane... You also have another passport check after the security check... I feel like it's so redundant and very in efficient. We missed our flight and had to sleep in Frankfurt for the night. I'm flad Lufthansa provided everything but it was the airports in efficiency that cause us to miss our flight. Mind you the walk from the main entrance was alot alot shorter than when you arrive from a connecting flight which does not make sense to me.

This airport represents everything that's wrong with Germany. Everything is old, outdated, worn out, and DIRTY! And I mean it—the whole city is full of trash, and so is the airport. The layout is awful: long walks through narrow corridors to dungeons leading to nowhere. Overall, this is a 0.0/5 experience. Sorry, Germany.

just now
New
What a mess. Buses that are sweltering. Tunnels that are worse. Infrastructure that is three generations old. So inconsistent with the image that Germany projects of efficiency and modernism. It’s worse than LaGuardia was twenty years ago. Really shocking. Writing this while standing in a sweltering tunnel with fifty other people squeezed in, perspiration dripping onto my phone. Completely different experience in Zurich two weeks ago. Going forward I will avoid Frankfurt whenever possible.

Terrible airport. Long line for check in and security check. Even for the business class in Condor , I need to wait for a long time to just check in. Very inefficient!

Appalling airport! Car return is excellent then it rapidly goes downhill after that. signage very poor. Baggage drop are totally unorganised and very rude staff. Spoke to me like I was an idiot. Security is the worst I’ve ever experienced and I travel A LOT, very lengthy queues, supervisor standing around doing nothing. I was moved to another queue because I’m a woman and apparently I might have accused the security staff of assault so he’d only allow men in his line. Utterly bizarre. I’ll avoid flying out of Frankfurt in future