Frankfurt Airport is running a vast underground baggage network beneath Germany’s largest airport, moving suitcases through roughly 100 kilometres of conveyors between the terminals. The system can handle between 50,000 and 60,000 bags on a normal day, rising to nearly 100,000 during holiday peaks, with peak pre-Covid volumes reaching about 120,000 bags in a single day.
The airport’s baggage flow is automated from the start. Bags are scanned by barcode, routed by software and sent through a web of switches, blue containers and conveyor lines to their destination. If a tag cannot be read, staff trace the item manually. Some bags are held in a so-called Frühgepäckspeicher before final dispatch. Transport between terminals can reach 18 km/h.
The system links Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 below ground, while Terminal 3 has its own separate baggage installation. About 20,000 blue containers circulate through the network, illustrating the scale of the operation that keeps hub traffic moving at one of Europe’s busiest airports.