We’ve all been there. Your plane touches down right on time, and so you fire off a text: “Just landed, see you soon!” But then you have to trek for what seems like a million miles from the gate to the main terminal, the queue for passport control is longer than life itself, and your suitcase just takes FOREVER to arrive.  

So wouldn’t it be nice if you could know which airports in the world are the fastest to get out of? Luckily for you, Blacklane, a global chauffeur and concierge service, has been doing some research, and for the first time has published a list of the fastest and slowest airports in the world. And three German airports have made it into the top 10! 

“Seat-to-Seat” Analysis compares airports worldwide

Blacklane has published its first-ever “Seat-to-Seat” Analysis of travel time. The company compared when guests left their airplane seats (calculated as the flight’s arrival time) to the times' guests entered its chauffeured vehicles, at hundreds of airports around the world. 

Their findings reveal that, worldwide, travellers’ median time from a plane’s arrival until they are on their way is 23 minutes for domestic flights and 38 minutes for international flights. This includes the total time to exit the plane, collect their luggage, clear customs and immigration, and walk to the car park or bus stop. This does not take into account nationality, priority status, age or checked versus carry-on luggage.

Luxembourg is fastest airport in the world

The fastest airport in the world is Luxembourg, where an exit took a median time of 15,5 minutes. Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, closely followed with 16 minutes. The slowest is Kansai, outside of Osaka in Japan, with a median exit time of 80,5 minutes. 

10 of the fastest 11 airports in the world for international arriving passengers are in Europe, and three of them are in Germany! Hannover, Cologne / Bonn and Berlin Tegel all ranked inside the top 10, with median exit times of 21, 22 and 22 minutes, respectively. Blacklane noted that European airports speed up immigration control by grouping EU and UK citizens together, using more immigration officers and deploying new technologies such as E-Passport gates. 

Germany’s busy airports come out on top

When they compared the busiest airports in the world with the fastest airports, however, Germany came out on top, proving that it deserves its reputation as an efficient country. With a median time of 30 minutes, Munich nabbed spot number one, closely followed by Frankfurt at 33 minutes. Singapore came in third with 36 minutes.  

Overall, however, the data showed that smaller airports generally get passengers out faster - due to the smaller size of planes and airport terminals. Many of the fastest airports in the world are a major city’s secondary airport, such as Milan Bergamo and London City. 

10 fastest airports in the world 

For international arrivals, the following airports were the fastest in the world. 11 made it onto the list due to ties. 

• 1. Luxembourg (LUX) - 15,5 minutes
• 2. Rotterdam (RTM) - 16 minutes
• 3 = Milan Bergamo (BGY) - 21 minutes
• 3 = Basel (BSL) - 21 minutes
• 3 = Hannover (HAJ) - 21 minutes
• 3 = London City (LCY) - 21 minutes
• 3 = Sofia (SOF) - 21 minutes
• 8 = Cologne / Bonn (CGN) - 22 minutes
• 8 = Milan Linate (LIN) - 22 minutes
• 8 = Shanghai (SHA) - 22 minutes
• 8 = Berlin Tegel (TXL) - 22 minutes

10 slowest airports in the world

The slowest airport in the world is Kansai International Airport, which serves Osaka. This might be because it has the longest airport terminal in the world, at 1,7 kilometres. Overall, the slowest ranking is dominated by countries’ largest cities. 

• 1. Kansai (KIX) - 80,5 minutes
• 2. Tokyo Narita (NRT) - 56 minutes
• 3. Santiago (SCL) - 54 minutes
• 4. Orlando (MCO) - 53,5 minutes
• 5 = Denpasar Bali (DPS) - 53 minutes
• 5 = Dubai (DXB) - 53 minutes
• 5 = Washington Dulls (IAD) - 53 minutes
• 5 = Pulkovo St Petersburg (LED) - 53 minutes
• 5 = Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) - 53 minutes
• 5 = Mexico City (MEX) - 53 minutes

You can find the full ranking on the Blacklane website.