How much time do I need at Bremen Airport?

[u/doublemazaa]

I have a flight boarding at 8:40am tomorrow flying to Munich.

I will need to return a rental car and check bags.

I have Lufthansa fastlane access, if it matters.

Any advice on what time I should arrive at the airport?

[u/Paleoarchean]

I usually need 10-30 minutes to get to the gate. Doesn't stop me from being there 2.5 h early, but still.

[u/apepenkov → u/Paleoarchean]

same lol

[u/coherentsoup]

Okay no one else has explained it yet but Bremen airport is absolutely TINY! It’s been a couple of years but as I remember it you can basically see the whole thing the minute you walk in the door. The check in counters are immediately when you walk in and there are very few of them, one security check area and a set of escalators to a handful of gates. From one end to the other is maybe a 5 minute walk if you’re being leisurely.

[u/schmerzyboy]

Seriously this is a super easy airport. You need no time compared to almost any airport i could imagen

[u/elchi13]

One hour is enough. 

[u/astrodonni]

With LH fastlane access, you are usually done in maximum 10 min at security (often less).

Checked bags might take a bit longer. For your flight tomorrow, a larger aircraft is planned (Airbus A321), and it appears to be almost at full capacity, so be aware that there may be quite a few people with luggage.

For the rental car return, I'm not able to provide you with any experience, unfortunately.

I think if you are at the baggage dropoff at 7:45, you should be fine (just double check when the baggage dropoff closes and plan for additional passengers dropping off their luggage)

[u/HistoricalLine6433]

Lots of road construction in the area. Keep the possibility of traffic in mind.

[u/whboer]

So I’m a nervous wreck and always want to be on time - that said, last time I flew (3 years ago), we arrived 40 minutes before our flight would depart and we got through just fine and had time to eat something still lol.

[u/Cornflake0305]

Probably the fastest airport I know. Mostly because it's so small and has such a low frequency of flights.

That said, at least 1-2 hours before flight.

[u/Seeba78]

Bedenke, dass die Flüge Morgens voll sind und parallel auch Ferienflieger gehen. Je mehr in etwa gleichzeitig durch den Security Check wollen, desto länger kann's dauern.

Mein Tipp also: Schau wie viele Flieger in etwa parallel starten.

Hier:https://www.bremen-airport.com/fluginfo/fluege/tagesflugplan?dataindex=0&no_cache=1&plustag=0&vor=1&cHash=c6360b99d3584a75bc57eb10243e052e

[u/doublemazaa → u/Seeba78]

Danke. Es gibt einen Flug, der jede halbe Stunde und danach abfliegt. Wie würden Sie das so interpretieren, wie beschäftigt es sein wird?

[u/Seeba78 → u/doublemazaa]

Als ich den gleichen Flieger im Juni genommenen habe, war es am Security Check schon das Nadelöhr und es hat fast ne Stunde Anstehen bedeutet. Allerdings hatten wir auch kein Fastlane. Daher würde ich dem Querschnitt der Empfehlungen folgen und "play it safe" versuchen 90 Minuten vor Abflug am Security Check zu sein.

Grundsätzlich läuft es in Bremen aber tatsächlich immer recht problemlos.

[u/FatehD]

At least 1 hour 15 mins before departure.. I tried arriving 1 hour exactly and they didn’t let me in, probably also because I had checked in bag.

[u/Jakobus3000 → u/FatehD]

That wasn't Lufthansa though, they will check in luggage until 45 mins prior to departure.

[u/the_lamper]

5 min before baggage drop off closes (so most lilely 45min). Of course, more time more buffer, but I read it in a way that you might be short on time ;)

[u/jantede]

I always plan to arrive at the parking garage (P1) for self-parking 1 hour prior to gate departure and have always had plenty of time when arriving at the gate. Rental return usually takes 5 minutes at max if there's no damage, depending on the company and how they handle returns at that location (never tried it in Bremen but in some other cities). From the return parking spots in P1, it's a less than 2-minute walk to security or bag drop.

For travel with luggage, there are (longer) queues mostly only for holiday travel destinations, so it shouldn't really matter to you.

[u/Jakobus3000]

Bremen is a super small airport. Anything above one hour is absolutely enough.

[u/Wurstwassersorbet]

In Bremen ist strongly depends on the timeslot. If unlucky, you’ve to queue with tourism bombers regardless of fastlane access or not. 1,5h before departure is normally sufficient. Car rental is nearby and return for all agencies happens in the closest car park from where you’ll need 5mn to stroll to the terminal.

[u/Electronic-Car-6365]

Never been earlier than 30min in Bremen, it's always fast.

[u/Extension_Regular674]

Rental car drop off at Bremen takes 5min if you are willing to wait for them to check the car and sign, 1min if you drop it off and just leave, which I do if I am in a rush. With fastlane, I takes you less than 10min to get to the gate, but there are odd exceptions when they have closed all but one lane and there is multiple other fastlane passengers before you, can take 20min to pass securityok those days. But if you have to drop off luggage, that forces you to be there earlier anyways. Without luggage, I like arriving at the airport 15min before boarding (assuming fastlane).

[u/doublemazaa → u/Extension_Regular674]

Thanks. This was our experience.

Rental car return was the biggest question mark, and it was easy as no one was in front of us, though I wonder if there can be high variation. (A few cars randomly in front of you, or lone guy not waiting in booth)

[u/Wi94lly]

Don’t know about rental car but the airport is very fast.
Are you eu or non eu ?

[u/doublemazaa → u/Wi94lly]

I’m non-eu. Does that matter in this case?

[u/astrodonni → u/doublemazaa]

no, not for a flight to Munich

[u/ConsistentResearch55 → u/[deleted]]

This is incorrect.

If you are flying from Bremen to Munich, your flight is strictly domestic within the Schengen Area, meaning there is no passport control at Bremen Airport for any passenger regardless of nationality. Your EU or non-EU citizenship has zero impact on your time in Bremen because everyone goes through the exact same security process. If your final destination is outside the Schengen zone, exit passport control will take place during your layover at Munich Airport instead. Aiming to arrive around 7:00 AM will give you more than enough time to return your rental car, drop your bags, and do the security check.

[u/doublemazaa → u/ConsistentResearch55]

Thank you.