Munich International Airport – the connecting hub of Lufthansa

Munich International Airport (MUC) is amongst the busiest airports in Europe and the second biggest in Germany after Frankfurt International Airport. Munich airport handles over 44 million passengers annually. It is a major hub for Lufthansa and Star Alliance member airlines.

Munich airport consists of terminal 1 (the older) and terminal 2 (the newer). Terminal 2 has been especially designed to serve as a hub, answering the needs of the connecting flight passengers of Lutfhansa. Actually  Lufthansa co-owns the company operating terminal 2 with a stake of 40%. Terminal 2 is built around a central-plaza concept, ensuring smooth passenger transit. The minimum connection time starts at only 30 minutes. Lufthansa's strategy generally is to offer very convenient connections averaging 35 – 60 minutes via Munich, so it is making best efforts to ensure low rate of flight disruptions.

What is interesting to mention about Munich airport is the availability of a valet service for passengers with short connections, who are literally met by Lufthansa staff on the apron and bused to the next flight. Nevertheless, the on-time performance of MUC is below the average as per the flightstats airport delays reports, which you can see here. In August 2018, out of 17,000 departing flights, only 64,60% left on time. This basically means that you should not take the friendly terminal design for granted, but rather study well the details regarding your upcoming connections at MUC in order to be prepared for possible disruptions. 

Amenities for connecting passengers

At Munich International Airport, Lufthansa really takes good care of their transit passengers. Wifi is free and unlimited. You can get for free tea, coffee and newspapers at designated areas in terminal 2.

There are plenty of nice places to eat and drink airside, but note that many passengers report that the food court closes at 10PM and opens again at 6AM. Those passengers transiting overnight may find it challenging to buy food, especially when the vending machines are loaded with drinks only. 

There are three rest zones with reclining seats, offering good comfort. In case reclining seats are not enough for you, you can also rest (or rather sleep) in a nap cab (15 EUR per hour, payable by credit card). Nap cabs can be found in terminal 2.

In case of longer layovers, you can opt for an airport hotel. There are many around the airport. You can check and book them from here:
Regarding the possibility to smoke at Munich airport, dedicated smoking places are available for transit passengers at both terminal 1 and terminal 2. The Camel smoking lounges are situated at various spots around the terminals and provide good comfort for smokers as they are larger than the typical smoking cabins available at other airports. 

Shopping at Munich airport

Shopping in the transit area of Munich airport is a real pleasure. You can find tens of big names, including Boggi, Huggo Boss, Bvlgari, Burberry, Fabriano, Hermes Paris, Lloyd, Picard, Superdry, Valentino, Victoria's secret, Weekend MaxMara and many others. 

Self-Connecting at Munich airport

Munich airport (MUC) is not a typical facility for self-connecting flights, as it is majorly dominated by Lufthansa, its Sky Alliance partners and other foreign legacy carriers. The availability of low cost carriers is limited to easyJet serving a handful of destinations from Terminal 1. Nevertheless, if you happen to self-connect landside, bear in mind that passport control lines at Terminal 1 can get quite lengthy. Some passengers report queueing at immigration for over an hour.   

The European low fare masters Ryanair and Wizzair operate out Allgau Memmingen airport (FMM), which is located some 142 km away from Munich airport (MUC). There is no public transport or shuttle bus linking both airports directly. You should either pre-book a transfer service or allow enough time to reach Munich city center and then make use of available public transportation to get to Allgau airport. 

In case you have experienced Munich Airport yourself, feel free to write a review for our website by following this link. 

Written by Connectionreview.com team