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Frankfurt Airport (Fraport) Visitors’ Center

Florian Buechting Airports and Airlines, Museums & Exhibitions No Comments

Fraport Visitors' Center

12 EUR
Fraport Visitors' Center
4.4

Rating

 4.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great and modern presentation of Frankfurt AIrport operations
  • Full model of Frankfurt Airport grounds
  • Very friendly staff

Dud you ever feel like learning more about the current operations and future plans of Germany’s largest airport? Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and their operating company Fraport are giving you the opportunity to do so in their Fraport Visitors’ Center (or Besucherzentrum, as it is named in German). I had a visit in December 2022.

 

 

Fraport Visitors’ Center – Location & Admission

Fraport Visitors’s Center is located close to gates C1 and C2. These two gates are not airside, but have an own security control located in the pathway between the B and C Gates area. Once you found that corridor, you just cannot miss the place. Fraport of course also offers bus tours of the airport. The regional rail connection from Frankfurt Main Station is roughly 20 minutes.

Adult admission to the Besucherzentrum is 12 Euro, which allows you to visit the place for 90 minutes. There are typically a few time slots per day. You should at least pre-book your tickets on weekends and during holidays. As the visitor center is not exposed to weather or similar, you likely can pre-book your stay there in any way. There is a waiting area downstairs, the exhibition space as such is on the upper floor of the area. There are also tickets which combine the minor airport tour with the visitors center – I however went for the larger airport tour before my visit.

 

Fraport Visitors’ Center – The Visit

Once your visiting time slot is starting, you are lead to the exhibition area and get an introduction of the visitors center. The miost striking part of the area is definitely the Airport City Model, which is a scale model of the whole airport ground, including Terminal 3 – which is currently under construction. This part is really cool, as tablets allow you to have additional information, pictures and videos by augmented reality features. You can really learn a lot about the services offered at a major international airport. Did you, for example, know, that Fraport is driving a dog hotel in case you need (or want) to do a trip without your beloved woofie?

However, reducting the visitors center to the model would be a shame. The major wall is used to give you some historic facts about Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and its development. Of course, a company-driven exhibition is never unbalanced, but I liked that they also had a certain focus on the grounds during the Nazi times or on the protest against the Startbahn West (Runway 18) in the 1980’s. Other exhibits also teach you about the history of the place, like projection screens about the Zeppelin era (check out the excellent Zeppelin Museum in Zeppelinheim close to the airport) or the Berlin Air Bridge.

Feel like your own suitcase

A very nice way to illustrate the operations of a modern airport is the virtual reality ride through the luggage processing area, which you take in a motion ride. You take over the perspective of a suitcase, which is very educative. The huge and very detailed screen of The Globe is amazing. It does not only illustrate the Frankfurt and international flight movementy, you can also reconcile the routes of recently arriving and departing flights. The same area allows you to manually assist a plane navigating to the parking position or look at typical airport equipment. For example, you can touch plane tires or refueling valves.

Fraport Visitors’ Center also has a small cinema with short documentaties. The area also features another virtual reality application, which already allows you to talk through the new Terminal 3. Some other exibits are done especially for the youngest visitors. Finally, you can also just look out of the large windows and see he operations at the B and C gates. A cool feature are touchscreens, which give you additional information on the planes you see through the window (including detaination, number of passengers etc.).

 

Fraport Visitors’ Center – Services

The staff was very friiendly and helpful. You also received a very detailed introduction to the exhibition space and functions of the different attractions in the visitors’ center. I also had some discussions with the Fraport staff, who was assisting us during the visit, which was very nice. In case you need WiFi, you of course have access to the free airport internet connection. The visitors center even has its own toilets.

 

Fraport Visitors’ Center – My View

I really liked the modern and interactive way Fraport is introducing you to their business. It is definitely a very thoughtful representation of the company, which is a nice spot for kids as well as interested visitors or aviation geeks. Especially if you kn ow in advance that you will spend some time at or around the airport, this place is a lovely distraction.

 

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