Minimum connecting times at BRU

[Stij]

Good afternoon,

does anybody have an idea about minimum connecting times in BRU?
I looked on BRU's website, but couldn't find them. actually, the whole website is O&D oriented, you can't find anything specially oriented at connecting pax... or I didn't find it...

Cheers,

Stij

[sn26567]

There was a time when airlines stated in their timetables the minimum connecting times at the various airports they were serving, for domestic, domestic to international, international to domestic, international to international, and even special cases (e.g. Israel). This time seems to be gone...

[b-west]

Well, if you're transiting from non schengen to schengen in the morning; I think the minimum connecting times are a fair bit longer than when you make the same connection in the same morning. Even with all border control posts staffed it can take well over an hour to clear immigration... I hope the connector will have more control posts than the current one in the B terminal.
Intra Schengen or non schengen to non schengen should probably be possible in 45 minutes minimum.

[jan_olieslagers]

This time seems to be gone...

Thanks to Test-Aankoop/TestAchats and the like. Anybody publishing a figure will be attacked on it, as soon as it fails for any reason. What then would you expect?

If anybody should publish such a figure, it would be the airport operator, not any individual airline. As correctly stated by the topicstarter.

@b-west: it is nice on you to try and be of help, but the question was not for recommendations, it was about guaranteed minima. Or so I read it, at least.

[tsx]

Well, I'm surprise by the answers so far.

MCT are still very well alive, when buying a connecting ticket from an airline.
The airline will then take responsability and hurry up the transfer, rebook the 2nd flight,...

When buying 2 single tickets, you're on your own and they're just indicative.
If 1st flight is late, the 2nd is missed, then it's too bad and you have to buy another ticket,...
(except some leniency from the airline)

They're not published, but accessed by various tools.
There are also some airports or airlines that publishes them.
(for example, MCT for a bunch of airport when flying Ethiopian)

What I could find online for BRU are :

STANDARD.D/D...D/I...I/D...I/I.
ONLINE .20 .50 .50 .50
OFFLINE .20 .50 .50 .50
** OR * ARE ALL
**-** DI .45 ALL - AMS
**-** DI .45 ALL - DUS

So that's 50 minutes.

[Stij]

STANDARD.D/D...D/I...I/D...I/I.
ONLINE .20 .50 .50 .50
OFFLINE .20 .50 .50 .50
** OR * ARE ALL
**-** DI .45 ALL - AMS
**-** DI .45 ALL - DUS

Would D be Schengen and I International?

If Schengen => Schengen would be 50min as well, I would be very disappointed given all Schengen flights are in the same pier A... If Schengen => Schengen would be 20min, I would be very impressed...

In MUC they have a MCT of 30 min in terminal 2 (Star Alliance terminal), even if it's Non-Schengen => Schengen...

If Pier A West would be constructed, BRU should be able to offer the same or better MCT for International => Schengen, don't they?

Note as well that MUC's website is oriented at transfer pax as well... even from the home screen...
http://www.munich-airport.de/en/consumer/index.jsp

Cheers,

Stij

[luchtzak]

I would recommend a connecting time of minimum 1 hour. Based on my travel experience in the past. Even a small delay on flight 1 can cause you to miss the next one...

Connecting flights of 30 minutes in Bru terminal A (Schengen to Schengen) are just in time...

[Stij]

My rules:

1st: avoid connections
2nd: connection to long haul: allow at least two hours, connection to short haul: pick the first connection as there're always later alternatives... It already saved my a lot of connection time (and some burned calories from the running).

Of course, sooner or later it will happen that I'll miss the inbound connection and that the next flight is full... But until now, the system always worked perfectly... knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood...

About BRU: 30min connections are allowed then?

Cheers,

Stij

[b720]

and certainly avoid booking 2 separate tickets.. This way the airline that issued the ticket will take care of you in case something goes wrong, rebook..or even put you up in a hotel if there is no other option..
Schengen to schengen (without checked in luggage should be ok within 20-30 min) provided your incoming flight is on time, and that is almost never the case.. 10-15 min delayed arrival is very common..I would say that 40 min should be ok. Schengen to AFRI and JFK 60 min? However I flew to JFK on SN last week thursday and it departed from gate B40 and not from the A terminal.. arriving at A terminal from a schengen flight and connecting to B40 would have taken more than an hour that morning!! 90 minutes should be ok..

[Homo Aeroportus]

Well, it’s also somewhat circumstantial.

Weather conditions : Winter or bad Wx can affect the arrival time, hence connection.

Time of day : B Pier in the early morning or mid-afternoon is not the same queuing time.

Airline : some airlines may announce a flight time longer than necessary (maybe to rank high in on-time arrivals ? ). You may bet arriving earlier with them and accept a theoretically shorter connecting time.
Others may be famous for not departing on time.

Reminds me when I was often flying out of Washington DC or NYC, connecting in Pittsburgh. “No Sir, this flight would give you too short conn at PIT. Hey wait you’re flying out with US Scare, they’re always late so no problem”

It's all a matter of risk assessment. What if I miss the connection?


Finally, there is also maybe a cultural issue with believing that leaving point A at xx:yy guarantees you a safe and systematic arrival at point B at yy:zz hours, without incident ever .....
???

H.A.

[Stij]

Finally, there is also maybe a cultural issue with believing that leaving point A at xx:yy guarantees you a safe and systematic arrival at point B at yy:zz hours, without incident ever .....
???

H.A.

I hope the "safe" is kind of guaranteed!

Cheers,

Stij

[tsx]

Would D be Schengen and I International?

No, D is Domestic. I guess that this data dates back from when they were flights to ANR (in fact, BRU-ANR was my first flight ...). The exception to DUS and AMS are also strange.

If anybody has insight on where this data lies / is maintained, it may explain the relatively hight MCT for intra-schengen flights, 50 minutes is definitely on the higher side.

Was this maintained by Sabena and left to live on its own since 2001 ?

[sn26567]

This kind of information on MCT used to be summarised in the Official Airlines Guide (OAG). Available on subscription only... Not sure they continue to do it (it's already a long time that I stopped my subscription).

[regi]

@ STIJ:
a bit off topic, but did you not post in the past once that you got out of the airport in 10 minutes ? OK, that is not a connection, but still shows how fast deboarding/border control / customs can work.

[Stij]

@ STIJ:
a bit off topic, but did you not post in the past once that you got out of the airport in 10 minutes ? OK, that is not a connection, but still shows how fast deboarding/border control / customs can work.

Actually, that was from the A pier, so no border / customs check!

It was proof of my physical condition... hehe... unfortunately... it was...

Cheers,

Stij