Frankfurt Airport (FRA) on February 12, 2010

I rather like Frankfurt Airport even though I have probably spent too much of my life wandering around it.  While most airports have unfriendly signs forbidding you to put your cart on the escalator, at Frankfurt they actually design the carts so that they clip into the escalators.  This makes it really nice for the traveler who may be tired of carrying stuff around the place.  Empathy at work! And, take note, USA, it is free to use the carts!

Also, I like the way that all the Lufthansa lounges have shower facilities.  I always feel grubby after a long flight, and it is very pleasant to have a shower followed by a snack and a glass of wine.  But, on this occasion, with my lowly Economy class ticket and the reduced circumstance of my blue Star Alliance card, I had neither the time not the status to be admitted.

But today, Frankfurt was a mess!  Because of the snow, many flights to North America were delayed.  To make matters worse, there was snow in Frankfurt and other parts of Europe.  It was also pretty cold, and most of the planes were being de-iced, including the Singapore Airlines (SQ 25), which is one of my most favorite flights!  (Click here for my comments on that flight.)

Another nice feature is the way cheap public transportation goes to the airport.  So if you have a long wait, you can get into the city.

Smoking booth at Frankfurt Airport

A curious innovation at Frankfurt Airport are the “smoking zones.”  These booths are sponsored by Camel, and provide smokers with an enclosed area, in which they can smoke.  What a curious thing!  It makes one wonder what kind of image Camel, with its history of bad publicity around the Joe Camel ads, is trying to create for itself.  A contribution to world health by protecting the public from second hand smoke or an initiative that undermines public efforts to discourage smoking?

A minor annoyance at FRA is the number of times that you have to go through security.  If anyone thinks that being “flight side” means that you are cleared, that’s just a dream.  I was thoroughly searched twice although I was just changing from one Lufthansa flight to another.