Munich - Travel by Plane
Munich's Franz-Joseph-Strauss airport is located about 30km north east of the city. Flights connect Munich directly to 20 destinations within Germany and 173 destinations world-wide (mainly within Europe with a couple of Asian, African and American destinations, but very few of these are daily flights). Depending on the airline, you may need to fly via Amsterdam, London, Vienna or Frankfurt before catching a connecting flight to Munich.
Flights within Europe are generally not cheap. Lufthansa totally monopolises the German market. A few (German) start-up companies are trying to introduce some competition into the market, but unfortunately none of these companies are based in Munich, so flying with them usually involves an additional stop-over at their hub. Where possible, try to avoid stop-overs, as often the flights do not connect that well, and there are few things more frustrating that flying over your destination, knowing you won't be back on the ground there for several hours.
If you want to book a one-way trip, check out the price of a return airfare first, as it will often be cheaper than one-way travel. (Airline pricing schemes are just as incomprehensible here as in the rest of the world.) Another thing to be careful of is missing your plane! If you miss your outbound flight, your return flight is usually cancelled automatically.
To avoid missing your plane, take the S-Bahn to the airport rather than going by car. Traffic jams on the autobahn occur frequently, and although the airport is made aware of the problem, they will not hold the plane for you!
Gate staff are still very security conscious. Obviously no sharps are allowed in cabin baggage. You generally have to remove your jacket before being scanned. Belts with metal buckles, and even shoes with metal eyelets are enough to set off the security detectors, so consider removing them too! The security staff have absolutely no qualms about inserting their hand-held detectors inside your clothing, so try to avoid setting off the metal detector by removing all metal items from your person. You have to show ID when checking in and sometimes you will be asked for ID in addition to your boarding pass when boarding the aircraft.
Be aware that duty free prices do not apply when you are travelling within the EU, and to destinations such as (French) New Caledonia and the (Spanish) Canary Islands.
