Due to recent events — tightening the rules for issuing Schengen visas and possible restrictions on entry into the European Union — We advise Russians and Belarusians to refrain from routes that require independent transfers at EU airports.
We have always written that independent transfer at most EU airports without having to have a Schengen visa is allowed if you do not leave the airport transit area and stay in it for less than 24 hours (except for Paris airports, where a visa may be required). We currently believe that the only safe option — if you have a single ticket and the connection is provided by the airline. In all other cases, there is a risk that you will not be boarded on a flight to the EU. In the current situation, a Schengen visa does not guarantee anything.
Single ticket — This is when you have one ticket for the entire route and one code in the booking system. In this case, you receive boarding passes for all flights upon check-in for your first flight, and your luggage is checked in until your final destination. The connection is provided by the airline; a Schengen visa is not required for a transfer at an EU airport.
If you have two separate tickets — one in the EU, the second from the EU — Each airline is responsible only for the flight segment it operates. You are responsible for the transplant. The first airline has the right to assume that the final point of your route is an EU airport, and you will prove to it 100 times that you are flying further, outside the EU, but it may not put you on a flight without a Schengen visa. We do not yet know how the attitude of airlines will change after the tightening of entry rules into the EU for Russians, but based on the rhetoric, we can assume that those with a Schengen visa also have the right to be denied boarding. Transit through Baltic airports will definitely be denied.
The so-called «transit privilege» enshrined in one of the agreements of 2001, which was adopted by the European Commission to implement the EU Visa Code. Citizens of most countries in the world, including Russia and Belarus, do not need to purchase a transit visa if they are transiting through one of the EU airports and do not leave the transit zone. List of such airports and transit criteria for each state — EU member sets independently. Nowhere in pan-European legislation does it say how an airline should determine that a passenger is flying to the EU for the purpose of transit rather than entry. And airlines determine this at their discretion.
Timatic, an airline migration information system, will show that in your case you do not need a visa to transit through the EU. For an airline employee, Timatik is not a law, and only he will decide whether to allow you to board. You will not be able to provide a document confirming your case, and you are not required to justify the reason for the refusal in writing — The airline has the option to do this later.
There is definitely no need to buy a ticket with a separate transfer at an EU airport if:
- one of the companies — low-cost airline, since low-cost airlines most often do not enter into an agreement with the airport on servicing transit passengers,
- you are flying with checked baggage,
- you do not know the rules for visa-free transit in your particular case (say, whether you should change the terminal).
If both flight segments on your route are operated by the same airline or different airlines, but which are part of the same alliance or have an agreement, there will most likely be no problems with an independent transfer at an EU airport. «Most likely» — because this again depends on the employee who will check you in for the first flight. Ideal option — When you check-in for an EU flight, you will receive boarding passes for both flights and your luggage will be checked in to your final destination. But you must check with the airline in advance whether this option will work.
In all other cases, at your own peril and risk, you buy two separate tickets when planning an independent transfer at an EU airport without a Schengen visa. Some «harmful» airlines will most likely not allow you on a flight to the EU and will instead offer you flights on their own flights. For example, Turkish Airlines will most likely refuse to board you on a flight from Istanbul to Frankfurt without a Schengen visa, even though your next flight from Frankfurt to Mexico City on Lufthansa is less than 24 hours later and you will not be leaving the transit zone. Turkish Airlines will offer to buy a ticket for a direct flight to Istanbul — Cancun, which is 2 times more expensive + you will have to buy a return ticket on a Turkish Airlines flight.