Why airport minimum connection times have become tighter
As the competition for transfer traffic at airports becomes fiercer, minimum connecting times for passengers are being eroded, says Alex McWhirter
The subject of minimum connecting times is one that is endlessly discussed by frequent flyers. Just what does the minimum connecting time (MCT) mean when transferring between flights? Most people assume that it’s the standard connecting time and that they have no need to worry. They also assume – wrongly in many cases – that if their flight is late the connection will wait. Some believe it’s the time you need to allow when changing planes, even if you are travelling with separate tickets. Others think that it’s the guaranteed connecting time and should their connection be missed, they can blame the airline.
In fact, all four assumptions are incorrect. According to trade body IATA’s definition: “A minimum connecting time interval is the shortest time interval required to transfer a passenger and his/ her luggage from one flight to a connecting flight. MCT intervals are also referred to as ‘official’ or ‘standard’ MCTs.”
It adds: “MCTs must be observed by all ticketing and reservations outlets worldwide and also are used as input for automated reservation systems.” However, airlines are free to deviate from MCTs in a given airport if necessary, it says.
All well and good. So why do missed connections and delayed luggage problems occur from time to time? It’s because MCTs are devised for optimal travel conditions, so the unexpected can cause a lot of disruption.
Our online forum (businesstraveller.com/discussion) has seen much debate about the best and worst airports for connections. Much will depend on individual experience, but what comes through clearly is that when bad weather slows down an airport’s operations and causes delays to flights, the knock-on effect can result in tens of thousands of passengers missing their connections.
So why can’t airlines and airports extend their MCTs to allow for weather, operational delays and so on? It’s a sensible question but, sadly, something that is unlikely to happen as carriers, airline alliances, hub airports and regions compete aggressively for traffic.
When competition was less fierce, transfer carriers such as KLM or Swiss would time their connections so that passengers had longer gaps between flights. But today, airports and airlines want to offer the speediest connections and shortest overall journey times. London Heathrow is a Oneworld hub so it will compete against Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle (both Skyteam) and Frankfurt (Star Alliance).
Having short MCTs means airports and airlines can offer passengers the shortest flight routings, and gain a better position on airline websites and GDS systems, such as Amadeus and Galileo. MCTs can therefore be considered a marketing tool in the battle for passengers.
There’s another reason, too. Previously, it was European airports competing against one another. Now it’s Europe against the Gulf. Hubs such as Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai are attracting more and more of the long-haul
passengers that Europe, not so long ago, would have considered its birthright.
It means Europe wants to offer speedy transfers to Indian travellers flying between Delhi and North America, to Chinese nationals en route from Beijing to Latin America or Africa and to passengers from South East Asia going between Singapore or Bangkok and the US East Coast. But recent years have seen Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways become more established in these regions. As a result, MCTs are being reduced to the bare minimum. In the most extreme cases, the margin for delays is just a few minutes.
It is true that within Europe, airlines pad schedules to allow for setbacks. For example, a LondonParis flight time (terminal to terminal) 35 years ago was 50 minutes, whereas today it can be 90 minutes. But air travel is so unpredictable that allowing extra time is not always the solution.
Airports say they sit down with their airline customers and work out feasible MCTs. Many, such as Heathrow and Gatwick, have connection guides for passengers on their websites. Many airlines will have similar advice, too. But no airline or airport could ever guarantee a connection – aviation is too uncertain for that.
Heathrow T5 has the airport’s shortest MCT when you fly BA and connect internationally, at only one hour (it’s 70 minutes within T3, and 90 minutes between T5 and other terminals). But how achievable is that if conditions are less than perfect?
Some years back, two readers flew business class Chicago-London-Lyon with BA and had a one-hour connection. Their flight pulled up at Heathrow T5’s pier five minutes early, but the connection was still missed as a systems glitch at the Chicago check-in meant they had been unable to obtain their London-Lyon boarding pass. In these cases, BA staff are supposed to meet passengers at the gate with their passes, but on this occasion, they failed to turn up.
BA says: “We always recommend leaving sufficient time when connecting between flights. We provide our customers with connecting time information on ba.com to help plan their journeys. We keep this information under review and listen to feedback from our customers.”
Vienna airport boasts a 25-minute MCT for Star Alliance carriers. That’s achievable when things run well but not otherwise. Business Traveller forum contributor Tramor01 used this short MCT in 2014 when flying with Austrian Airlines from London to Bangkok via Vienna. The connection had run smoothly on three previous occasions but this time, it failed and he was forced to stay in an airport hotel and be re-routed with Star Alliance carriers the following day via Frankfurt. Austrian continues to offer a tight, 30-minute connection for its London-Vienna-Bangkok flights.
Amsterdam Schiphol airport has a 40-minute MCT between short-haul and 50 minutes between long-haul flights with KLM and other Skyteam services. That was okay when Schiphol was smaller but now its single terminal is far larger, and walking distances between piers can be vast.
No airline or airport could ever guarantee a connection – aviation is too uncertain for that
A contributor (Gin&Tonic) to our sister website, seatplans.com, wrote in January: “Connecting in Amsterdam from a Schengen flight [results in] a long walk from D gates to T gates [of] almost 20 minutes. The MCT was only 50 minutes, which is good in terms of the overall transit time to destination but leaves one a little flustered.”
KLM is aware that it takes longer if the connection involves the Schengen area. It now advises: “If you are travelling to/from Schengen and non-Schengen countries you should count on having to go through additional security checks and customs inspections. These can substantially extend the time it takes to complete your transfer procedure.”
Other European airports with short – some would say unrealistic – connecting times include Helsinki and Munich. The former has MCTs of 35-40 minutes, while the latter’s is as little as 30 minutes within T2 (mainly used by Star Alliance carriers) or 35 minutes in T1.
It should also be pointed out that the hubs of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have all come under pressure, mostly from the sheer weight of traffic, although bad weather, most commonly fog, can cause delays.
Qatar now enjoys a new hub in the form of Hamad International. Although Dubai has the new Al Maktoum International airport to look forward to, there are no immediate plans for Emirates to move its operations there, while Etihad is waiting for its new Midfield Terminal to open in 2017.
The Middle Eastern hubs do have advantages, however. Unlike their European counterparts, they have fewer short-haul flights connecting with longhaul services. The long-haul flights have more opportunity to regain time en route should they suffer a delay on departure and, in addition, the Gulf hubs are open 24 hours.
On a final note, if you are using separate tickets, allow extended connecting times of several hours to be on the safe side. (Remember that with separate tickets an airline is not obliged to through-check you or your luggage, so you may have to clear customs or security and check in again.) With low-cost carriers you have no alternative (unless using the chargeable Gatwick Connect service at that airport) because they do not interline.
If you are using separate tickets, allow extended connecting times of several hours to be on the safe side