Flying to Frankfurt on a budget
Frankfurt is a major hub served by 1 airport in Germany. Across the city's airports, around 20 airlines operate roughly 497 documented route pairings, connecting Frankfurt to approximately 25 direct destinations worldwide. For budget travellers, having multiple airports in one city is usually good news. Secondary airports tend to host the lowest-cost carriers and the cheapest fares, but the trade-off is a slower (and sometimes pricier) ground transfer to the city centre.
The cheapest combination of base fare plus ground transport almost never lives at the same airport. As a rule of thumb, fly into the most-served airport when you have luggage, late arrival times, or a fixed work meeting. Fly into the cheapest secondary airport when you are travelling light, have flexible plans, and are arriving mid-day with the buses still running. We break down the airports below in order of route volume, so you can quickly see which carriers and destinations each one specialises in.
Airports serving Frankfurt
Tips for landing in Frankfurt cheap
- Compare airports before booking. The headline-cheapest fare into the secondary airport is sometimes wiped out by a EUR 20+ ground transfer to the city centre.
- Check the last public-transport time. Late arrivals can force a pricey taxi if you miss the bus or train; verify against the inbound landing time, not the scheduled.
- Pre-book ground transport for arrival. A pre-paid bus ticket bought online is usually the cheapest predictable option; airport-counter taxi rates can run two to three times the metered fare.
- If you have multiple airports, fly in and out of different ones. Use Google Flights' multi-city search to capture the cheapest combination of one-ways across two airports.
- Watch for currency exchange traps. The airport bureaux are the worst place to change money; withdraw from a major-bank ATM in arrivals instead.
Top destinations from Frankfurt
| Code | City | Country |
|---|---|---|
| DFW | Dallas-Fort Worth | United States |
| MAD | Madrid | Spain |
| JFK | New York | United States |
| DOH | Doha | Qatar |
| JED | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
| ATL | Atlanta | United States |
| AUH | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
| BEG | Belgrade | Serbia |
| HEL | Helsinki | Finland |
| VIE | Vienna | Austria |
| DTW | Detroit | United States |
| LIS | Lisbon | Portugal |
| HER | Heraklion | Greece |
| LHR | London | United Kingdom |
| PMI | Palma de Mallorca | Spain |
| TXL | Berlin | Germany |
| LIN | Milan | Italy |
| CPH | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| AYT | Antalya | Turkey |
| AMS | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
Airlines flying from Frankfurt
American Airlines (AA)
United States
United Airlines (UA)
United States
US Airways (US)
United States
Air China (CA)
China
Air France (AF)
France
Lufthansa Cargo (LH)
Germany
Alitalia (AZ)
Italy · Budget
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL)
Netherlands
Air Berlin (AB)
Germany
Air Canada (AC)
Canada
British Airways (BA)
United Kingdom
Scandinavian Airlines System (SK)
Sweden
Air India Limited (AI)
India
Condor Flugdienst (DE)
Germany
Ethiopian Airlines (ET)
Ethiopia
Swiss International Air Lines (LX)
Switzerland
Austrian Airlines (OS)
Austria
TUIfly (X3)
Germany