Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
Frankfurt is just the fifth-biggest city in Germany, but it has the country’s busiest airport. And it’s about to get busier. In April, 2026, a brand new Terminal 3 was opened, across the tarmac from the other two. It’s quite a distance, and in order to switch between terminals, a new automated People Mover had to be built. While at the airport, we decided to try it out … even though we had no real need to visit T3. This is just the kind of stuff we do for fun.
We first noticed the new trains last year, while flying back to Valencia from Germany. At that point, they were just doing some test runs, but with the opening of T3, the people mover is fully operational.
Construction on Terminal 3 began way back in 2018, and was originally supposed to be finished 2022, but … something happened, I can’t remember what exactly, like some sort of global pandemic? Anyway, it was pushed back until April, 2026.
The grand opening of the new terminal didn’t immediately increase traffic to FRA, because it’s mainly being used by the flights that were previously being run out of T2. That terminal is now getting a much-needed renovation. Once T2 is complete, the same thing will happen again, with T1 being refurbished and its flights relocated to T2. (This process feels very German and efficient.) It won’t be until 2035 that all three terminals are fully operational.
But back to the present day, and our first wild joyride on the new people mover. Called SkyLine, the automatic train covers the 5.6 kilometers between the terminals in under eight minutes, reaching rather impressive speeds of 80 km/h.
We only had time to take a look at the main hall of the terminal, designed by local architect Christoph Mäckler. The large cube-shaped construction reminded us of Mies van der Rohe, and specifically Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie. It’s notable for the abundant natural light that pours in through walls made of glass, and landed a spot as the only European airport on the The Prix Versailles’s 2026 World’s Most Beautiful Airports list.
From our Travel Blog.
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