Whine Wednesdays: Frankfurt Airport Removes Moving Walkways Because “Nobody Used Them” !?

This week’s Whine Wednesday is about a measure that Frankfurt Airport recently completed, removing all the moving walkways between the Terminal and the ICE Railway Station in the Squire Terminal because “people weren’t using them”.

According to an airport spokesperson, rather than using the moving walkways to go more conveniently to the train station (or vice versa), passengers chose to walk beside them which prompted the removal.

Frequenting Frankfurt Airport for decades now and certainly having used the Long Distance Railway station at the Squire a lot (as recently as this week), I honestly never had the impression that a substantial number of people ignore escalators or moving walkways – unless they are once again (as ever so often) broken.

Frankfurt Airport is a never ending construction project and no matter how long it takes it never seems to get better. After a one-year hiatus, I came back there last Sunday and was pretty shocked that almost nothing is open for shopping at 8 pm.

According to the Frankfurter Neue Presse, the airport removed the walkways this month and instead turned the entire tunnel into a large hallway without any technical support.

Tens of thousands of people passed by them every day – not just during the Hessian Easter holidays, as is currently the case. But hardly anyone seemed interested in the convenience at Frankfurt Airport. Now they are history: On the connection between Terminal 1 and the regional and long-distance train station, the moving walkways – officially known as moving walkways, colloquially as flat escalators – have been removed. …

A spokeswoman at Frankfurt Airport stated: “We noticed that more passengers walk past them instead of actively using them.” The removal is intended to create more space for travelers and visitors at the busy area used by rail passengers to get to and from the flight area. The airport operator Fraport will certainly also save operating and maintenance costs by doing away with them. …

The excuse that people weren’t using the automated walkway is a blatant lie and nothing else. I’ve always used them (why wouldn’t I?) and so did countless other passengers every single day.

What’s next for FRA? Should they remove the escalators, too, because people love to take the stairs? Should they remove the toilets because passengers prefer to hold them until they are on the plane? Considering the disgusting stench of Frankfurt Airport’s public toilets, that might actually be an accurate statement.

Conclusion

Frankfurt Airport has decided that the moving walkways (flat escalators) in the corridor between the main terminal 1 and the long distance railway station weren’t utilized enough.

According to a spokesperson, most passengers would walk next to it rather than conveniently sliding through the corridor on the automated walkways. A ludicrous statement, there is no way this is true.

Let’s be honest here, the reason why they took them away is to save money on energy and maintenance. Frankfurt Airport already has a significant problem with these moving walkways. In the main terminal, it feels like every third one is always out of service. The airport has become a national embarrassment!

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