Boston aviation - 2018

iyerhari · Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:06 pm

airbazar wrote:
VS4ever wrote:
iyerhari wrote:
LATAM maiden flight from GRU to BOS is enroute now and delayed by 5 hours 42 minutes expected to land at 2:42 pm EST. Finally a new South America add!

Excited about the add but a nearly 6 hour delay on the maiden flight, that's nuts, certainly won't be arriving to the quieter Terminal E the original timing would normally get. Any word on what caused it?

Both Flightaware and flightradar24 show it arriving in 10 minutes:
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/TAM ... /SBGR/KBOS
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/jj8164

Sorry I do not know what I was checking

I just checked and the maiden flight landed in BOS. Hopefully someone in the forum has access to the maiden trip pictures.

chrisnh · Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:14 pm

They had to hurry up in order to watch Brazil-Mexico on TV :hyper:

B752OS · Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:09 pm

https://twitter.com/BostonLogan/status/ ... 6836797441

iyerhari · Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:32 pm

May-2018 YTD numbers for IAH, BOS, MSP, FLL for comparative purposes:
IAH: 17,243,118
BOS: 15,592,530
FLL: 15,501,495
MSP: 15,027,448

There are still over 7 months of reporting to be done, but just a sense of direction.

IAH-BOS for Jan-2018 through May-2018 by pax numbers

IAH-BOS

654,853
444,034
490,837
37,603
9,930

33lspotter · Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:05 am

Looks like the BA203/202 rotation has been upgauged from a 777 to a 747 the past few days...saw it going around tonight from Dorchester. Looks set to continue tomorrow, too.

iyerhari · Thu Jul 05, 2018 12:37 am

B6 latest updates on flying Europe from BOS and JFK. Nothing concrete.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/skift.com/ ... range/amp/

Runway28L · Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:12 am

Are AA's flights still split up in Concourse B at BOS? Like are the L-US ops at B4-B19 still segregated from the L-AA ops in B30-B36?

If they are, is there a plan in place yet to try and move their ops into a single area like Massport did for UA?

B752OS · Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:25 am

Runway28L wrote:
Are AA's flights still split up in Concourse B at BOS? Like are the L-US ops at B4-B19 still segregated from the L-AA ops in B30-B36?

If they are, is there a plan in place yet to try and move their ops into a single area like Massport did for UA?

Yes. Massport is well under way on an expansion project for Terminal B, it's slated to be completed in January. Once that happens all of AA's operations will be consolidated in Terminal B.

http://www.massport.com/media/2766/marc ... ermark.pdf

Start with slide 151.

737307 · Fri Jul 06, 2018 6:26 pm

Dieuwer wrote:
Last night I was enjoying the view from the BA "cocktail lounge" and I really don't see how they can squeeze 3 more A380 gates in the area opposite the gas station. It already is super tight, considering the parked aircraft (TK, EK, JL) and the large ground space the BA aircraft occupied at E12.

Anyone care to comment?

VS4ever · Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:08 pm

Dieuwer wrote:
Dieuwer wrote:
Last night I was enjoying the view from the BA "cocktail lounge" and I really don't see how they can squeeze 3 more A380 gates in the area opposite the gas station. It already is super tight, considering the parked aircraft (TK, EK, JL) and the large ground space the BA aircraft occupied at E12.

Anyone care to comment?

My understanding is that the North Cargo area is also going to be re-configured as well to allow for the additional space needed. Massport are highly unlikely to need 6 A380 capable gates (E10-E12 already configured), when frankly at most 2 airlines right now are going to run them. I don't see a chance in hell of LH and AF turning up with theirs. So what you are seeing is WB capable with multiple bridges, which will be useful because it's highly likely at the very least that TP and EI will move back from C so the space will be needed for them. Although the focus on the project is to expand E, the subplot is the field realignment to make it all work.

airbazar · Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:15 pm

VS4ever wrote:
My understanding is that the North Cargo area is also going to be re-configured as well to allow for the additional space needed. Massport are highly unlikely to need 6 A380 capable gates (E10-E12 already configured), when frankly at most 2 airlines right now are going to run them.

It's not about the A380. From what I've seen those gates are flex gates meaning, each can accommodate 2 narrowbody aircraft. So lets do the math:
2 Code C aircraft (A320/737) require 72 meters.
1 Code F (A380/748) require 80 meters.
An 8 meter difference shouldn't make a huge difference in a project of this magnitude but I don't know how many of these gates will have an 80 meter "box".

NickolayAv · Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:45 pm

Just arrived from ZRH, on LX's first daily flight. A few interesting notes from the flight and arrival.
1) LX flight oversold, had to bump people, not a single empty seat in any class.
2) Arrived at the same time as MT, QR, LH 748, HU 789 and a few other flights, lines at Passport control were awful, looked like it was for several hours, (with Global Entry I was out of there in 3 minutes), the interesting result of this was several WB flights having to share a baggage carousel. Noticably, HU and QR had to share a carousel, while most of the passengers were stuck waiting for passport control, the baggage just kept coming until it was completely clogged and the carousel couldn't move. Then Massport sent out a team of people to unclog all the carousels by flipping the baggage. (Has this been noticable previous high seasons where they need to send teams to unclog the carousels)

NickolayAv · Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:01 pm

Dieuwer wrote:
NickolayAv wrote:
Just arrived from ZRH, on LX's first daily flight. A few interesting notes from the flight and arrival.
1) LX flight oversold, had to bump people, not a single empty seat in any class.
2) Arrived at the same time as MT, QR, LH 748, HU 789 and a few other flights, lines at Passport control were awful, looked like it was for several hours, (with Global Entry I was out of there in 3 minutes), the interesting result of this was several WB flights having to share a baggage carousel. Noticably, HU and QR had to share a carousel, while most of the passengers were stuck waiting for passport control, the baggage just kept coming until it was completely clogged and the carousel couldn't move. Then Massport sent out a team of people to unclog all the carousels by flipping the baggage. (Has this been noticable previous high seasons where they need to send teams to unclog the carousels)

Is this the crunch time window 4 - 7 pm? Better get in early (noon-ish, BA, DL) or very late (> 8 pm).

No, arrival at 3:20 pm. Can't even imagine what goeson there between 4-7 pm.

737307 · Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:02 pm

NickolayAv wrote:
Just arrived from ZRH, on LX's first daily flight. A few interesting notes from the flight and arrival.
1) LX flight oversold, had to bump people, not a single empty seat in any class.
2) Arrived at the same time as MT, QR, LH 748, HU 789 and a few other flights, lines at Passport control were awful, looked like it was for several hours, (with Global Entry I was out of there in 3 minutes), the interesting result of this was several WB flights having to share a baggage carousel. Noticably, HU and QR had to share a carousel, while most of the passengers were stuck waiting for passport control, the baggage just kept coming until it was completely clogged and the carousel couldn't move. Then Massport sent out a team of people to unclog all the carousels by flipping the baggage. (Has this been noticable previous high seasons where they need to send teams to unclog the carousels)

Is this the crunch time window 4 - 7 pm? Better get in early (noon-ish, BA, DL) or very late (> 8 pm).

airbazar · Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:06 pm

Dieuwer wrote:
Is this the crunch time window 4 - 7 pm? Better get in early (noon-ish, BA, DL) or very late (> 8 pm).

This is why we tell all of our friends and family who come to visit us in the Summer to fly Delta or TAP. Early arrivals into BOS.

B752OS · Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:57 pm

I am going to assume Massport and their team have taken the time to ensure there's enough space to fit 4 widebody planes at each gate for the phase 1 expansion.

Here are the plans again: https://www.massport.com/capitalprogram ... it%20A.pdf

I am going to assume the spacing is there to fit 4 332/333/343/788/789/763/764/772/77W/778/779/744 at each gate. Massport doesn't need these gates to be able to handle the 380 given E10-12 already do that.

NickolayAv · Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:11 pm

Today is the second day in a row I have seen an Embraer ERJ-190 flying from San Salvador to Boston. Does anyone know what those flights are?
https://www.flightradar24.com/JBU6404/1d085545

UkiAir · Sat Jul 07, 2018 12:19 am

SAL is a maintenance center for B6 E190s.

adamh8297 · Sat Jul 07, 2018 12:51 am

I actually used the SL3 to get to BOS from Newburyport/Rockport Commuter Rail line in the afternoon last week and worked well. The SL3 runs from Chelsea/Bellingham Square to Seaport with stop at BOS and other locations. Got to Blue line Station in under 40 minutes. I didn't do it on the return since the red eye from PDX landed at 5:15 ish and the first train out of North Station does not stop at Chelsea.

mspeaumsn · Sat Jul 07, 2018 3:05 pm

Anyone know how jetBlue is doing on their new BOS-MSP route?

jworks158 · Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:19 pm

NickolayAv wrote:
Today is the second day in a row I have seen an Embraer ERJ-190 flying from San Salvador to Boston. Does anyone know what those flights are?
https://www.flightradar24.com/JBU6404/1d085545

Yup, that plane was on the ground in SAL since Apr 9th.

I was on N318JB last week a few days after it had come back from a 1 month stay at SAL it had the new plane smell with new carpet, and refurbished seats. I asked the FA if B6 was refurbishing the 190s and she said .

"no, but they sometimes update the carpets"

I couldn't believe how comfortable the seats were they were firm, a far cry from most of B6's E190s.

aaflyer777 · Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:29 am

Flew in on BA 203 last night and I can say that even after 7:00PM the passport control lines are still way out of control. I waited in line about an hour and a half, but the people who came in on LH 420 and LX 53 behind us looked like they were gonna be in line at least 3 hours. Also noticed FI is running both their flights on 767s, when did that happen?

iyerhari · Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:47 am

NickolayAv wrote:
Just arrived from ZRH, on LX's first daily flight. A few interesting notes from the flight and arrival.
1) LX flight oversold, had to bump people, not a single empty seat in any class.
2) Arrived at the same time as MT, QR, LH 748, HU 789 and a few other flights, lines at Passport control were awful, looked like it was for several hours, (with Global Entry I was out of there in 3 minutes), the interesting result of this was several WB flights having to share a baggage carousel. Noticably, HU and QR had to share a carousel, while most of the passengers were stuck waiting for passport control, the baggage just kept coming until it was completely clogged and the carousel couldn't move. Then Massport sent out a team of people to unclog all the carousels by flipping the baggage. (Has this been noticable previous high seasons where they need to send teams to unclog the carousels)

Yes, it happens during the peak season especially during the summer time and Thanksgiving when I have either experienced this myself or my close family. It happened with my father 2 years back and the baggage carousel was so clogged and so many passengers stuck in passport control, it took close to 2.5 hrs. for him to able to come out. I have asked him to take the late night BA flight this year that arrives into BOS at 10:15 pm. The terminal that time is supposed to quiet unless you have some big delays. The challenge is even bad when you have a young kid who is already tired and fed-up after a long trip and feels claustrophobic.

B752OS · Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:42 pm

Not that it will help in the short term, but once phase 1 of the Terminal E expansion is finished, passport control will be expanded and optimized.

ASA · Sun Jul 08, 2018 3:44 pm

iyerhari wrote:
Yes, it happens during the peak season especially during the summer time and Thanksgiving when I have either experienced this myself or my close family. It happened with my father 2 years back and the baggage carousel was so clogged and so many passengers stuck in passport control, it took close to 2.5 hrs. for him to able to come out. I have asked him to take the late night BA flight this year that arrives into BOS at 10:15 pm. The terminal that time is supposed to quiet unless you have some big delays. The challenge is even bad when you have a young kid who is already tired and fed-up after a long trip and feels claustrophobic.

I feel lucky to have taken the earlier DL flight from AMS last week ... we landed at 13:35pm ... and out on the curb within 30 minutes!

Passport control overall have streamlined a bit with the new machines positioned outside the main Immigration hall ... but that must be because of accommodating more people in there. So if that room was all full of people ... I can imagine 2+ hour queues ... sigh! :crowded:

737307 · Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:01 pm

airbazar wrote:
Dieuwer wrote:
Is this the crunch time window 4 - 7 pm? Better get in early (noon-ish, BA, DL) or very late (> 8 pm).

This is why we tell all of our friends and family who come to visit us in the Summer to fly Delta or TAP. Early arrivals into BOS.

I arrive with BA-213 today. Immigration was practically deserted.

johhn14 · Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:02 pm

I have Global sentry so never have much of a problem, but the last time I arrived a colleague with Mobile Passport cleated before I did - no lines in either queue.

I wonder what Mobile Passport is like at rush hour?

Off to Ireland in a few weeks but with pre clearance I won’t get a glimpse of Immigration .

iyerhari · Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:48 am

B752OS wrote:
Not that it will help in the short term, but once phase 1 of the Terminal E expansion is finished, passport control will be expanded and optimized.

I really do not know the current status of immigration in other big major international airports in the US as I have only used BOS for all my travels except once we got re-routed to IAD due to a major snow blizzard. This was in 2013 and the experience was not all that great. I did not have Global Entry back then and I had to wait close to 2 hours until I got out of customs. I use BOM to see my family and the situation over there is also not that great. It took close to 3 hours especially with all the A-380, 787s and all the big planes landing at the midnight time. I have changed my schedule for my travel to BOM this year to an afternoon time when there are barely any carriers that time.

Anyone know how are the other big international airports in the US such as JFK, EWR, MIA etc. are doing in terms of passport and customs?

J2flyer · Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:41 am

iyerhari wrote:
B752OS wrote:
Not that it will help in the short term, but once phase 1 of the Terminal E expansion is finished, passport control will be expanded and optimized.

I really do not know the current status of immigration in other big major international airports in the US as I have only used BOS for all my travels except once we got re-routed to IAD due to a major snow blizzard. This was in 2013 and the experience was not all that great. I did not have Global Entry back then and I had to wait close to 2 hours until I got out of customs. I use BOM to see my family and the situation over there is also not that great. It took close to 3 hours especially with all the A-380, 787s and all the big planes landing at the midnight time. I have changed my schedule for my travel to BOM this year to an afternoon time when there are barely any carriers that time.

Anyone know how are the other big international airports in the US such as JFK, EWR, MIA etc. are doing in terms of passport and customs?

As far as I've witnessed, I agree that lines were long for my flights arriving at BOS, where I usually took QR, BA or LH. When it comes to JFK, if I arrived earlier than noon rush hour on AZAL flight around 9-10 AM, lines are deserted at T1 and you go through in matter of minutes. That didn't apply during summer season last year as Norwegian flight landed at the same time with a lot of people new to ESTA taking regular lines instead of kiosks. Other times of the day it is packed to brim.

tphuang · Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:56 am

iyerhari wrote:
B752OS wrote:
Not that it will help in the short term, but once phase 1 of the Terminal E expansion is finished, passport control will be expanded and optimized.

I really do not know the current status of immigration in other big major international airports in the US as I have only used BOS for all my travels except once we got re-routed to IAD due to a major snow blizzard. This was in 2013 and the experience was not all that great. I did not have Global Entry back then and I had to wait close to 2 hours until I got out of customs. I use BOM to see my family and the situation over there is also not that great. It took close to 3 hours especially with all the A-380, 787s and all the big planes landing at the midnight time. I have changed my schedule for my travel to BOM this year to an afternoon time when there are barely any carriers that time.

Anyone know how are the other big international airports in the US such as JFK, EWR, MIA etc. are doing in terms of passport and customs?

Jfk and ewr are both pretty bad in terminals that have large non American passenger in arrivals. I have waited for 90+ minutes multiple times in the line for non Americans. Fortunately, I have nexus now so can go through global entry line.

airbazar · Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:51 am

B752OS wrote:
Not that it will help in the short term, but once phase 1 of the Terminal E expansion is finished, passport control will be expanded and optimized.

I'm not sure that's going to help much since the problem is lack of CBP officials not lack of counters.
I have never seen all immigration counters fully staffed at BOS. Never.

Speaking as a foreigner, as far as other airports go they are pretty much all the same. The key is the arrival time. Any airport with bunched-up international arrivals is going to be a problem. My worst experience ever was at IAH where I waited 2 hours in line to clear immigration on the way back from CUN. My best experience was right here in BOS a couple of years ago when I arrived from LIS with S4 just ahead of all TATL arrivals and was out at the curb 15 minutes after landing (no checked luggage). I basically just walked right past immigration and was out in no time.

tlecam · Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:38 pm

My int’l US arrivals are mostly at BOS or JFK. Could be any number of airlines, but typically DL, VS, AF or AZ and sometimes LH, IB, BA. I have Global Entry, but I’m sometimes traveling with people who do not, so I end up waiting, although not necessarily in the line.

Probably stating the obvious, but with Global Entry, I don’t typically have an issue.

At BOS, any flight that arrives in the rush will be a long wait for both US and non-US travelers who don’t have some sort of expedited entry. It’s been better in the past year or two (relatively speaking) compared to 3-4 years ago. It can still take a couple of hours between disembarking and exiting the airport if you hit it wrong.

JFK is similar. I find T4 to be better than T1, but even in T4, if DL lands a slew of flights around the same time, it’s a mess. One annoying thing about T4 is that when the line backs into the long, narrow corridor, it can be a battle to even get up to the Global Entry line. They sometimes have staff directing it but they don’t do it loudly or aggressively and mileage will vary on how effective they are.

tlecam · Mon Jul 09, 2018 12:44 pm

I’m thinking back to recent arrivals in other countries.

Rome is always a nightmare. It’s constantly understaffed and inefficient. This is true both for arrivals and for the immigration check after security when departing. Just comple chaos. Despite the enhancements made to FCO in the past decade or so, the space for immigration is undersized - the lines often extend beyond what they have corrals for.

Germany and France and both typically efficient. I find lines in Frankfurt to be long, but at least they move efficiently. I haven’t experienced long waits in Paris or Munich.

Heathrow is...Heathrow.

I haven’t been through AMS, ZRH or MAD all that recently, but previous arrivals have been relatively smooth as I recall. Nothing horrible stands out.

iyerhari · Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:34 pm

tlecam wrote:
I’m thinking back to recent arrivals in other countries.

Rome is always a nightmare. It’s constantly understaffed and inefficient. This is true both for arrivals and for the immigration check after security when departing. Just comple chaos. Despite the enhancements made to FCO in the past decade or so, the space for immigration is undersized - the lines often extend beyond what they have corrals for.

Germany and France and both typically efficient. I find lines in Frankfurt to be long, but at least they move efficiently. I haven’t experienced long waits in Paris or Munich.

Heathrow is...Heathrow.

I haven’t been through AMS, ZRH or MAD all that recently, but previous arrivals have been relatively smooth as I recall. Nothing horrible stands out.

One other airport I find efficient is YYZ - both Canada and US immigrations and it works well even when I have my son and wife who don't have Global Entry. The lines are well handled for the traffic. I liked YUL, YHZ and YVR too although the lines were not as long as YYZ. One other European airport I liked was MUC although the lines were not as long as FRA.

tlecam · Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:54 pm

I thought of one other airport that I think manages this very well - Vienna. Granted, it doesn't have the volume to contend with, but it's very well organized and very efficient, as one might expect from the Austrians. It's one of my favorite airports to go through for that reason. It's a great airport for eastern and southern Europe connections.

Edit to add that my folks have taken advantage of the SAS flight from Boston to go through CPH quite a bit. They really like that experience.

737307 · Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:27 pm

Border transfer in AMS is a breeze. I use the automated gates and pass within a minute. The only negative about AMS is luggage claim which is a cramped mess.
I also had a pleasant surprise at LGW. Same automated gates and luggage claim was actually "civilized".

nmdrdh787 · Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:55 pm

Just flew the AA Shuttle for the first time in my life. DCA-BOS, after my DCA-PVD flight went delay mad. I was surprised that B16 was so close to the exit.

Can't believe how much Terminal B has changed over the years. I remember pre 9/11 and months after it when there were armed police in the building. And back when you could park in the internal parking garage...

Also, the new Rental Car center surprised me. BOS has changed quite alot.

Side note- PVD shocked me with it's changes too, and the amount of DY 738 service it has. Man I'm feeling old.

Runway28L · Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:29 am

B752OS wrote:
Runway28L wrote:
Are AA's flights still split up in Concourse B at BOS? Like are the L-US ops at B4-B19 still segregated from the L-AA ops in B30-B36?

If they are, is there a plan in place yet to try and move their ops into a single area like Massport did for UA?

Yes. Massport is well under way on an expansion project for Terminal B, it's slated to be completed in January. Once that happens all of AA's operations will be consolidated in Terminal B.

http://www.massport.com/media/2766/marc ... ermark.pdf

Start with slide 151.

Thanks. Looks very interesting. Seems like it'll turn out really nice based off of the renderings.

I am flying out of B South on AA BOS-LGA next week so I was curious to see where the progress on the project was at.

VS4ever · Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:12 am

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... e-project/

Well for an understandable reason but rather than EK announcing an increase back to 2 daily or an upgauge to a 380, we get a reduction to 6 weekly for April 16 through May 30 due to runway upgrades at DXB.

chrisnh · Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:34 am

Both Texas cities and Seattle escape unscathed. I think the upgauge to the A380 is still a possibility; I wouldn’t close the door on that yet.

johhn14 · Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:57 am

DFW is reduced, but Houston and Seattle remain as you indicated.

This is usually lighter loads for travel. I’ve typically flown in April over the past couple years and we’ve not had full cabins in either F or J. Never seen a Y cabin on Emirates

737307 · Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:39 pm

So who got to pickup traffic from EK then? BA? LH?

737307 · Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:13 pm

Looks like AS pulled the plug on one of the BOS-LAX flights for fall.

ASA · Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:44 pm

nmdrdh787 wrote:
Also, the new Rental Car center surprised me. BOS has changed quite alot.

Side note- PVD shocked me with it's changes too, and the amount of DY 738 service it has. Man I'm feeling old.

Welcome back to BOS! Yes, it has changed quite a bit ... and for the better, I would say. Also, if you visit in the late afternoon - early evening timeframe ... the number of new airline tails and colors will surprise you!

iyerhari · Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:07 pm

Runway28L wrote:
B752OS wrote:
Runway28L wrote:
Are AA's flights still split up in Concourse B at BOS? Like are the L-US ops at B4-B19 still segregated from the L-AA ops in B30-B36?

If they are, is there a plan in place yet to try and move their ops into a single area like Massport did for UA?

Yes. Massport is well under way on an expansion project for Terminal B, it's slated to be completed in January. Once that happens all of AA's operations will be consolidated in Terminal B.

http://www.massport.com/media/2766/marc ... ermark.pdf

Start with slide 151.

Thanks. Looks very interesting. Seems like it'll turn out really nice based off of the renderings.

I am flying out of B South on AA BOS-LGA next week so I was curious to see where the progress on the project was at.

Construction is in full swing - it is more on the LUS side. The shuttle side is not affected at this time although many AA Eagle flights to PIT, ROC etc. now go from the shuttle side as the gates are being redone on the main LUS side.

nmdrdh787 · Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:54 pm

ASA wrote:
nmdrdh787 wrote:
Also, the new Rental Car center surprised me. BOS has changed quite alot.

Side note- PVD shocked me with it's changes too, and the amount of DY 738 service it has. Man I'm feeling old.

Welcome back to BOS! Yes, it has changed quite a bit ... and for the better, I would say. Also, if you visit in the late afternoon - early evening timeframe ... the number of new airline tails and colors will surprise you!

I worked with MASSPORT indirectly and the amount of service their ASD firm was staggering. Are they expanding E already?

JoePatroni · Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:56 pm

tlecam wrote:
I thought of one other airport that I think manages this very well - Vienna. Granted, it doesn't have the volume to contend with, but it's very well organized and very efficient, as one might expect from the Austrians. It's one of my favorite airports to go through for that reason. It's a great airport for eastern and southern Europe connections.

Edit to add that my folks have taken advantage of the SAS flight from Boston to go through CPH quite a bit. They really like that experience.

I just recently got back from a trip to Europe and on the way over I took SK928 BOS-CPH and it was one of the best flights and easiest entry points into Europe that I've experienced. We breezed through passport control and got to our connecting flight to FCO in about 15 minutes.
On the way home I flew LX52 ZRH-BOS. We arrived at around 2005 and BOS was a nightmare. Granted it was a Saturday evening but the wait at Passport Control looked extremely long. Luckily, I had mobile passport and was able to clear in less than 10 minutes. Once down in baggage, the whole hall was a mess. People and bags everywhere. We waited about 45 minutes for our bags. Definitely not a nice welcome to the U.S.

seat24charlie · Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:01 pm

JoePatroni wrote:
tlecam wrote:
I thought of one other airport that I think manages this very well - Vienna. Granted, it doesn't have the volume to contend with, but it's very well organized and very efficient, as one might expect from the Austrians. It's one of my favorite airports to go through for that reason. It's a great airport for eastern and southern Europe connections.

Edit to add that my folks have taken advantage of the SAS flight from Boston to go through CPH quite a bit. They really like that experience.

I just recently got back from a trip to Europe and on the way over I took SK928 BOS-CPH and it was one of the best flights and easiest entry points into Europe that I've experienced. We breezed through passport control and got to our connecting flight to FCO in about 15 minutes.
On the way home I flew LX52 ZRH-BOS. We arrived at around 2005 and BOS was a nightmare. Granted it was a Saturday evening but the wait at Passport Control looked extremely long. Luckily, I had mobile passport and was able to clear in less than 10 minutes. Once down in baggage, the whole hall was a mess. People and bags everywhere. We waited about 45 minutes for our bags. Definitely not a nice welcome to the U.S.

Scandinavian airports + Iceland are a particular delight. Have flown through Helsinki and KEF multiple times and I adore the experience, admittedly as an EU passport holder which makes things even quicker.

I haven't found a port of entry into the US that is even remotely efficient or pleasant. Even the overseas CBP checkpoints in places like Toronto are awful, lengthy and tiresome experiences. It's almost as though this country wants to make entry into the United States difficult and unpleasant by design...

airbazar · Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:08 pm

seat24charlie wrote:
I haven't found a port of entry into the US that is even remotely efficient or pleasant. Even the overseas CBP checkpoints in places like Toronto are awful, lengthy and tiresome experiences. It's almost as though this country wants to make entry into the United States difficult and unpleasant by design...

Hahaha! I've seen even U.S. citizens get treated poorly by immigration officials so I think it's more typical government incompetence than it is a concerted effort to make it difficult on foreign visitors. It is a shock to me that somehow people still want to visit here given how poor the first impression is.
Only CUN beats the U.S. as far as being unpleasant. Mexico seems to replicate everything the U.S. does including the unpleasant immigration experience. My experience at CUN was the worse of anywhere else. Our family went there on vacation and they pulled my elderly parents aside and never gave us any explanation why. After about 15 minutes or arguments it became clear they were looking for a bribe and then wanted us to sign some document in Spanish as a pre-condition for their release. We stuck to our guns, gave them no bribe, and signed nothing because we couldn't understand what it was. It was only when we demanded to talk to our embassy that all of sudden there was no problem anymore and they let us out.

SCQ83 · Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:41 pm

iyerhari wrote:
One other airport I find efficient is YYZ - both Canada and US immigrations and it works well even when I have my son and wife who don't have Global Entry. The lines are well handled for the traffic. I liked YUL, YHZ and YVR too although the lines were not as long as YYZ. One other European airport I liked was MUC although the lines were not as long as FRA.

IMO Germany is the worst country for passport controls in Europe, with FRA the first prize. Having entered/exited the EU via most EEA countries I find them on average the most passive-aggressive border control officers in the EU.

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