These external stairs seem to be becoming a common feature at German airports and I wonder if apart from Schengen/arrival/departing flexibility it isn't also influenced by the Dusseldorf fire experience i.e. these comparitively large stairwells can function as emergency exits... > Message date : Jan 07 2005, 04:21 AM > From : "http://aviation.0-24.net/"; > To : AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Copy to : > Subject : Re: Questions about this picture > Close, but not quite. Arriving and departing passengers are not = > separated at FRA, but rather Schengen and Non-Schengen pax. The upper = > level of the outer part of the A pier is for flights within the Schengen = > area, the lower level for flights outside Schengen (or possibly the = > other way around). Using the stairwells they have flexibility to use = > each gate for either purpose. > > Regards, > Lars > > > > They look like the house the jetways, plus stairwells. > >=20 > > My assumption is that arriving passengers walk through the jetways = > into the > > building on the same level for customs, immigration, baggage claim, = > etc. > > Departing passengers are in the holding area located one floor above. = > They > > need to walk down one floor via stairwell to access the jetway. > >=20 > > This satisfies the need to separate arriving and departing passengers = > for > > security reasons. > >=20 > > If you notice, some of the "walls" even go up to the third level. = > These > > might be for VIP lounges. > >=20 > > Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok uses two ramps accessing two floors, one for > > arriving passengers and the other for departing. In the old days at = > Kai > > Tak, there was only one ramp but it moved up and down a floor, = > depending > > whether passengers were arriving or departing. That was pretty neat. > >=20 > > Russell Ng > > SIN > >=20 > >>----- Original Message ----- > >>From: > >>To: > >>Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 2:29 PM > >>Subject: Questions about this picture > >> > >> > >> > What is the purpose of the big walls between each aircaft? > >> > http://www.airliners.net/open.file/749691/L/ > >> > > >>I see that they contain jetways at the bottom. The buildings they are > >>attached to look pretty high, as if they were multistory. > > > -- Whatever you Wanadoo: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/ This email has been checked for most known viruses - find out more at: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/help/id/7098.htm