Best Airports For Connecting Flights

The Worlds Best And Worst Airports For Making Connecting Flights

Calculating airport time is always a major part of travel planning. Arriving an hour before your flight can often not be nearly enough time. When booking flights that include connections what’s the minimum time you need to make it to the next departure gate? Trying to avoid a tight connection could leave you with extra hours in the airport but missing the connection can cost a whole day. When booking a cruise or package tour often you are dependent on their booking office unless you’re willing to pay an up-charge.

After you’ve missed enough connections you start paying attention to which airports are the worst and which are the best for making those connections. In looking at reviews of airports there are some common threads that help define the best and worst. The better airports for connections have a high rate of on-time departures and arrivals, good layouts and internal transportation, well staffed security and passport checkpoints and a reputation for assisting people with tight connections. Following are the results of a 2019 study of airports and their connecting times.

Worst Airports For Making a Connecting Flight

Madrid Adolfo Suarez – Barajas Airport (MAD) +1.75 Hours
Frankfurt International (FRA): +1.5 Hours
London Heathrow (LHR): +1.5 Hours
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG): +1.25 Hours
Shanghai Pudong International (PVG): +1.2 Hours
Los Angeles International (LAX): +1 Hour
Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD): +1 Hour
Tokyo Narita International (NRT): +1 Hour
Boston Logan International (BOS): +1 Hou

Best Airports for Making a Connecting Flight

Zurich Airport (ZRH): <10 minutes
Salt Lake City International (SLC): <15 minutes
Tampa International (TPA): <15 minutes
Orlando International (MCO): <15 minutes
Charlotte Douglas International (CLT): <20 minutes
Denver International (DEN): <20 minutes
London Stansted (STN): <20 minutes
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL): <25 minutes
Dubai International (DXB): <25 minutes
Hong Kong International (HKG): <25 minutes

This won’t guarantee you can avoid missing connections but it can go a long way when planning that trip.

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