German At the Airport Vocabulary
This set covers the vocabulary you actually need to get through an airport in German, from der Check-in and die Sicherheitskontrolle to boarding at the Gate. One trap here is die Flucht, which looks like it should mean "flight" in the aviation sense but actually means "escape" or "fleeing" - the word you want for an airplane flight is der Flug or der Abflug for departure specifically.
Learn these 16 words
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All 16 words
plural: die Abflüge
departure
Der Abflug ist um 11.20 Uhr. — The departure is at 11:20 a.m.
plural: die Flughäfen
airport
Kannst du mich zum Flughafen bringen? — Can you take me to the airport?
plural: die Flugtickets
flight ticket
Hast du dein Flugticket schon gedruckt? — Have you already printed your flight ticket?
plural: die Gates
gate
Unser Gate ist Nummer zwölf. — Our gate is number twelve.
plural: die Reisepässe
passport
Ich zeige meinen Reisepass am Schalter. — I show my passport at the counter.
plural: die Terminals
terminal
Wir treffen uns im Terminal zwei. — We meet in terminal two.
boarding
Das Boarding beginnt in zehn Minuten. — Boarding starts in ten minutes.
plural: die Check-ins
check-in
Der Check-in beginnt zwei Stunden vor Abflug. — Check-in starts two hours before departure.
plural: die Fundsachen
lost and found
Sie können dort bei den Fundsachen schauen. — You can look in the lost and found there.
hand luggage
Das Handgepäck darf nicht zu schwer sein. — Hand luggage must not be too heavy.
plural: die Fluchten
escape, flight
Der Einbrecher war schon auf der Flucht. — The burglar was already in flight.
plural: die Flugbegleiter
flight attendant
Der Flugbegleiter bringt uns etwas zu trinken. — The flight attendant brings us something to drink.
plural: die Gepäckausgaben
baggage claim
Wir warten an der Gepäckausgabe auf unsere Koffer. — We are waiting for our suitcases at baggage claim.
plural: die Sicherheitskontrollen
security check
Die Sicherheitskontrolle dauert manchmal sehr lange. — The security check sometimes takes very long.
plural: die Starts
beginning, start
Bleiben Sie bitte während des Starts sitzen. — Please remain seated during takeoff.
plural: die Fluggäste
airline passenger
Jeder Fluggast muss einen Pass haben. — Every airline passenger must have a passport.
How to learn this set
Notice how many of these words are just borrowed English terms wearing German grammar: das Gate, das Boarding, der Check-in, das Terminal. Drill those first since the spelling won't trip you up, only the gender will, and German assigns der to almost all of them except das Gate and das Terminal. For the native German compounds, look at how die Gepäckausgabe (baggage claim) and das Handgepäck (hand luggage) both build on Gepäck, so once you know that root means "luggage," you can guess related words. Practice der Fluggast and der Flugbegleiter side by side too, since they're built the same way (Flug + person) but describe opposite roles, one a passenger and one staff.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Flug and Flucht?
Der Flug means a flight, as in a plane journey (Der Flug nach Berlin dauert eine Stunde). Die Flucht means an escape or fleeing, like fleeing a country or a fire. They come from the same root but mean very different things, so don't mix them up.
What is der Start in German?
Der Start usually means the takeoff of a plane, or more generally the beginning of something, not a sports "starting line" or a business "startup" in the English sense. At the airport you'll hear it paired with der Abflug, which refers to the departure more broadly (as on the departures board).
Is Check-in masculine or neuter in German?
Der Check-in is masculine. Most English loanwords ending in -in or borrowed as single units default to der in German, similar to der Laptop or der Computer, so it's worth memorizing der Check-in as a set phrase rather than guessing.
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