How long to allow for Connection Flights
If you booked a connection flight directly with the airline then this will be decided for you.
However if not then working out how much time to allow between connection flight s can be a big gamble causing untold stress or a slightly more predictable wait.
How much time do you need for a connection in Palma airport? How much should you allow?
How long to allow between Connection flights?
Usually when purchasing a ticket from an airline with a connection, the airline will allow ample time for passengers to be able to board it.
However, when booking your flights independent of each other the decision of how much time to leave in between flights is up to you, although dependent on flight schedules.
Frequent travellers feel it is better to kill excess time having a meal or a coffee or spending some time in a relaxing airport lounge than being frantic about making a connection flight. Missing a connecting flight has the potential to ruin a holiday and leave big financial headaches.
When the connection is at Palma airport the first concern is working out how much time you will reasonably need to make it onto the connecting flight. A few factors come into play at Palma Airport.
Potential delay of first flight
At Palma airport this is far more likely in the high summer season. A lot of flights don’t always land on the scheduled time or will make an unscheduled change.
The dilemma is how much time reasonably to allow as a buffer to compensate for this.
The loss of the second flight in the summer season will be very expensive in time and money as alternative flights are full.
Orientation at Palma airport
Because Palma airport is very large often passengers arrive and are instantly lost in a busy maze of corridors and boarding gates.
The ability to work out quickly where you are at Palma airport when you touch down is crucial to the amount of time you will need to plan for a connection.
Knowing where your boarding gate is and how to get there is as equally important to timing.
Distance between gates, modules at Palma Airport
Some airports are a quick walk from arrival point to the next departing gate. Not so at Palma airport in a lot of cases.
There are some amazingly long corridors at Palma airport. To go from one module or zone to another can take up to twenty minutes of walking.
There are pedestrian conveyer belts which help but unless you run all the way they won’t make that much difference to time.
From the modules to the main terminal building where baggage reclaim and check in are found can be up to ten minutes of walking. This would need to be counted double as you would have to get back to your next boarding gate from the terminal.
Security clearance at Palma Airport
The ideal scenario is not having to leave the passenger only zone and not having to go through security at Palma airport.
If you have to go to baggage reclaim and then into the public zone at Palma airport to bag drop you will have to go through security clearance to get to you boarding gate.
It should be noted that during busy times in the summer season, queues at the security checkpoint are lengthy and could take anything up to forty five minutes or more to clear.
If you really have to reclaim baggage and bag drop or check in at Palma and then go through security this will heavily add to the amount of time you need to allow before your connecting flight.
Unforeseen Strikes
It seems that nearly every year there are strikes of one kind or another, these will mess up travel plans. Sadly strikes are not so predictable, usually only the threat of a strike is given a few weeks in advance. Recent stoppages at Palma have been in two hour segments.
Click here to see our page Strikes at Palma Airport
Final destination Airport
A lot of travellers will land in Palma airport and get a connecting flight to Menorca or Ibiza because it’s cheaper than flying direct from their starting airport.
It’s fair to say that connecting flights to one of the nearby Balearic islands are a little more straight forward and are all found in module B. You shouldn’t need to allow as much time for these they are less busy and the gates are usually open a little longer before flight time.