How long does it take to check in for a plane? How long before departure does boarding start?

As a rule, airports are always busy, and larger ones can be overcrowded. The flow of tourists in large airport terminals does not stop. Often the security measures can also be quite intimidating for many arrivals. This article will acquaint travelers with the rules of check-in at the airport, how much the check-in for the plane ends.

A passenger must complete several steps in order to check in for a flight:

arrive on time at the airport;
check in luggage;
go through customs control and go to the departure hall;
get your boarding pass;
go through passport control.

All airlines require their passengers to check in early before flying. Check-in for a flight can be done in one of three ways:

Online via the Internet on the official portal of the air carrier.
At the airport at the check-in counter.
Through a travel agency.

The end of check-in at the airport for domestic flights is carried out strictly in 40 minutes. Therefore, it is extremely important that the passenger arrives at the airport on time with sufficient time for check-in. Airline staff strongly recommend arriving at the airfield at least 90 minutes prior to your flight to ensure there is sufficient time to complete the entire procedure.

Rules of conduct at the airport

Start of registration - main stages

Online check-in is available through the airline's official website. The passenger receives an email in advance, which indicates what time the plane departs and when online check-in opens. This notification usually arrives 24 hours before the flight departure. The process is pretty simple. The passenger can check in at home after entering their own data, which are indicated in the passport.

You are then given the option to download your boarding pass, print it on your printer or email it. Check-in for international flights closes immediately 4 hours before the flight departure. The passenger must arrive at the airport terminal 2 hours before the end of check-in.

Important! Passengers who did not have time to check in online for a UTair aircraft can complete the procedure right at Pulkovo Airport.

Many people wonder how this process goes, whether it takes time to receive an itinerary receipt for a flight. There are special self-service points in the departure hall. These touch screen machines look like ATMs and are located near the check-in counter in the departure lounges.

Checking in at the airport for a plane using one of these devices is quite easy. To do this, just click on the FlySafair icon and follow the simple instructions. The printout will be identified using your personal booking number, the six-digit code found at the top of your itinerary receipt.

How long does it take to complete all procedures

Registration time. When to arrive at the airport

Many beginners do not know how to behave before the flight. In order not to panic, you need to arrive at the airport in advance and calmly go through all the procedures. At any airport, passengers are required to:

Passport. To fly within Russia, you need an internal passport. In another country, of course, you need to take a foreigner. Domestic Russian can be useful if documents are stolen abroad, but even then it is easy to do without it.
The ticket will be asked at the airport at check-in. In fact, there are a lot of airlines that check in only with a passport, because the ticket data is stored in the database. But it’s better to print it anyway or save it on your smartphone until check-in at the airport terminal begins. And if you fly on board Ryanair, then you need to check in for the flight on the Internet and be sure to print out your boarding pass a few hours before departure. Otherwise, the employees of the air carrier will not allow you to board the plane or you will have to pay a fine.

Note! For children, a different set of documents is required.

It includes:

Child's passport. Internal - if you are traveling in Russia, foreign - if the trip is planned abroad.
Birth certificate. He is occasionally asked by border guards to verify the accuracy of the information. And on the basis of a birth certificate with a stamp or an insert about citizenship, a child under 14 years old will enter a country where they are allowed to enter without a foreigner. For example, in Belarus.
Consent to leave if the child travels without parents: with a nanny or grandmother. If children cross the border with one of the parents, consent to leave is not required.

Airport terminals - requirements and rules

Differences in the check-in procedure at different airports

All passengers are subject to the same system at the airport before boarding a domestic flight. The passport control and security control procedure may take some time, for example from 1 to 2 hours, depending on the queue. After the passenger passes the screening, he is allowed to the departure hall. This is a special area where passengers can wait until check-in is over.

Passengers on international flights are subject to more scrutiny. Each person goes through mandatory customs control, security control, as well as passport control. Many inexperienced passengers are wondering: how many hours does boarding start? To pass all types of control, you must arrive 2.5 or 3 hours earlier. Passengers on domestic flights may arrive at the terminal a little later, for example, 2 or 1.5 hours before the departure of the aircraft.

Requirements of air carriers for registration on low-cost airlines

The check-in counter at Domodedovo, Vnukovo or Sheremetyevo is the traditional and most famous type of check-in, which has not lost its popularity to this day. It is especially suitable for those who make their first flight, as the whole process is managed by trained personnel and mistakes are excluded.

This type of registration has many other fans - after all, interacting with people is often preferable to using technology. In addition, for some passengers, depending on the requirements of the airline, this may be the only suitable option. However, to date, low-cost air carriers have appeared, dictating their own rules, which each passenger must obey.

What are the requirements for low-cost carriers

How long does it take to check in for a low cost airline flight?

Lowcosters (lowcosters, lowcosters, discounters) - this is what is commonly called today low-cost airlines that offer cheap tickets with a minimum set of additional services.

When buying a ticket from a low-cost carrier for both domestic and international flights, you should carefully consider the choice of services and the fare conditions of a particular airline. Many travelers do not like to use the services of low-cost airlines in the direction of Moscow - Barcelona or St. Petersburg - Paris due to several factors.

If the online check-in of major air carriers is always free, then Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizzair, Vueling and other airlines charge an additional fee of €50* when checking in at the airport, and American Spirit Airlines - 10 USD*. Moreover, Ryanair closes online check-in 4 hours before departure. In the absence of a printout (by ticket number) at the airport, the passenger will have to pay a fine. Since check-in at the airport is carried out exclusively with an electronic ticket.

How to stay calm when boarding a plane

Although flying can be an exciting adventure, it can instill fear in some people. There are many different events that make people travel by air. It is believed that air transport is the safest than any other mode of transport. The number of road and rail accidents is much higher than the number of plane crashes.

Traveling is wonderful, as long as a person is not in a stressful situation. Package tourists are protected from surprises, their path is strictly regulated: passport control, baggage claim, representatives of the tour operator, a shuttle for twenty people and a hotel that you can not leave.

And what is left to do for those who arrive at an unfamiliar airport in Europe, not knowing the language, and just want to find a way out after landing without incident? Indeed, for many tourists, even the aggressive offer of taxi drivers and the snatching of luggage from their hands is already enough reason for stress. If you start to panic, then you need to pull yourself together.

In advance, you need to come to terms with the fact that none of the airports in the world has a perfect signage system. Even if a person is fluent in English, signs often have to be searched throughout the building and you can go astray.

Note! It is better to study the airport map in advance, save it to your phone or draw a rough plan. This will help you navigate in an unfamiliar place.

In conclusion, it should be noted that being at the airport you need to calm down. People are prone to anxiety, it happens to many. None of the employees is interested in the traveler getting lost or missing the flight. There is no hopeless situation, as airfield workers will help in any situation. It must be remembered that the main enemy of the traveler is panic.

*Prices are current as of August 2018.

When deciding to use the services of air transportation, you will have to take into account some features related to check-in for a flight. There are completely different rules compared to land transport. If you do not take into account these nuances, you can simply be left behind.

Registration procedure

Even if you have a ticket on hand, this does not guarantee your presence on board the aircraft. To get there, you need to pre-register and get a boarding pass instead of a ticket. The check-in procedure includes other points that cannot be bypassed.

First, all passengers are checked in at the airport at a specially designated counter (or at the self-check-in terminal), if they did not have time to go through the online procedure in advance;
Then the weight and dimensions of the luggage that will fly separately are checked. In the event of a deviation from the norm in a large direction, payment will be charged for the excess quantity. The passenger is issued 2 coupons: the 1st is attached to the luggage, which is immediately checked in, the 2nd remains on hand (luggage is received from it at the point of arrival);

Then the passenger must go through passport control, which is mandatory when flying abroad;
If an international flight is meant, you will also need customs clearance, which can be passed both before and after check-in;
Immediately before boarding the plane (when passing to the departure waiting area), passengers' hand luggage is also examined by the airport security service.

All these pre-flight procedures take a lot of time due to forced queuing, which should be taken into account when deciding when is the best time to arrive at the airport. You need to take into account such a moment - whether it is necessary to make additional packing of luggage so that it flies in integrity (this will also take extra time).

In order for all passengers to have time to go through the registration of the trip, the norms of the start and end times are set. The earlier travelers are at the reception desk, the more likely they are to get on the airliner. But latecomers should not despair either - there is an appropriate counter for them (provided that the passenger appeared at it not a few minutes after the check-in was closed, but 15-20 minutes before the end of the procedure).

If the passenger did not check in because he did not have time or forgot how long the check-in for the plane ends, he will not get on board, but he still has the opportunity to return his money by returning the unused ticket or changing it for the next flight (if imply tariff rules).

Online registration

You can simplify the registration procedure by using the Internet service. Each airline has its own website, which provides not only information about flights, but also about when registration starts and stops. In the window that opens, you can quickly check in for yourself and your luggage without leaving your home, as well as choose a comfortable seat on the plane. To do this, you must have a ticket for a specific flight (or its electronic version).

You can print your boarding pass at home or do it upon arrival at the airport at the self-check-in counter. A convenient option is to get a picture of the boarding pass on your mobile phone. Such an opportunity will speed up the passage of all other stages of inspection, because there is no need to approach the registrar. If it was not possible to print the registration card the first time, you can try again by selecting the "Reprint" option.

In order to have a better chance of getting advantageous seats on the plane, it is better to start online registration early. Information about how many hours before departure this procedure will begin and what time it will end is easy to get here, on the company's website. For most airlines, registration via the Internet starts a day in advance, but there are also those that open access in 2-3 days.

Virtual check-in can close, like a real one, 45 minutes before departure (as Aeroflot practices), or maybe an hour - it all depends on the company. But this does not mean that you need to pull to the last, because you also need to take into account the time to get to the airport (and any unforeseen situations can arise here).

Note! Online check-in is a good way to avoid the queue already at the station if you have a laptop with you.

A period of time

The check-in time covers the entire flow of passengers who have already purchased tickets for the flight. But even this document will not save if one of the tourists is late and appears at the airport after the end of registration. Although there are exceptions to any rule - at the discretion of the airline representative, who is required to be at the check-in counter.

This is allowed if boarding the aircraft has not yet been completed. It will continue until all checked-in passengers are on board. Up to 45 minutes are allotted for this, since travelers still have a duty-free zone on the way, where passengers can get stuck at some kiosk.

To avoid an incident with the flight, it is better to arrive at the airport long before the end of registration. You can find out the exact time when it is closed on the airline's website or call the airport information desk. You should not rely on the knowledge of acquaintances, because there are many nuances in this matter, and they are associated with various factors.

Airports

Each airport has its own check-in rules, which differ from each other. The lower the passenger flow, the less time spent on registration. At small airports, the procedure starts 1 hour before departure, and it closes 20 minutes before departure. At large airports, there is always a large influx of passengers, and in order to process them all, it will take more time for check-in.

If we consider the Moscow "air gates", then at Sheremetyevo (as well as at Domodedovo) check-in at the airport for international flights begins 2.5-3 hours and ends 40 minutes before departure, and at Vnukovo it opens 2 hours and closes 30-40 min.

Airlines

Airlines may have their own requirements, and they do not always coincide with the airport regime. Here, the significance of the route is also taken into account - international or domestic, charter or regular. It also matters whether the passenger uses the services of a low-cost airline or chooses a more monetary option.

Check-in for domestic flights is faster in time, as it eliminates the need for customs clearance. Yes, and the procedures sometimes end later - 20 minutes before departure;
Charter flights are allowed in the interval between regular ones, so passengers of the last movements have priority in check-in. If there is a failure in the schedule, then the charter flight will be shifted. Tickets for these flights are handled by tour operators. They also determine when the client should arrive at the airport for check-in;
Low-cost flights are often delayed, but you should not rely on this and delay the check-in time. It is better to arrive in advance and go through all the procedures in order to be able to take a more convenient seat if the option on the boarding pass does not suit you (this is possible on a not fully loaded board).

You can also be late with online registration if you use the services of low-cost airlines. They usually close check-in for a flight 3-4 hours before the scheduled departure. For many companies, this time is less - 1 hour or 45 minutes before the flight.

How not to turn registration into a nightmare

Experienced passengers already know all the nuances associated with the upcoming flight, so they feel at ease in the airport building. Beginners have a harder time - they get lost in a diverse stream of the same travelers. Even if you arrive at the airport in advance, you may not have time to check in if you panic and miss the moment when the check-in ends.

Note! Only balance and prudence will help to cope with the situation. In order not to panic, you need to develop a plan of your actions in advance and know exactly how long the landing begins.

Arriving at the airport, the first thing to do is to look around for the scoreboard. This will help you understand which direction to register to take. It will not be difficult to decide - it is enough to find the number of your flight on the scoreboard (it is indicated on the ticket);

If you are not familiar with the airport building, you can find information boards that display station maps. They will necessarily indicate the registration area;
As a fallback, contact any port worker who catches your eye. He will certainly help with the search;
When you get to the counter, you should not immediately rush to register - it is better to first prepare the necessary documents (passports, children's metrics, tickets). When the whole family or company is sent on a flight, documents must be submitted in a common pile in order to get seats nearby;
For passengers traveling in first or business class, check-in at the airport is carried out at a separate counter. If there is none, then they have a priority right to receive registration out of turn.

Important! If you don't know what to do next, ask your registrar to explain your next steps.

Having reached the duty-free zone, you should not get carried away with the offers available there, so as not to be late for boarding and not make other passengers wait for you.

If there is free time before departure

Having found out how much the check-in for the plane starts, and having managed to complete it and all further procedures on time, the passenger realizes that he still has a lot of free time before departure. You should not complain about this - it is better to think about what you can do while waiting. Experienced passengers are already prepared for such a situation, but newcomers can be given a few recommendations. They will also be useful to those who arrived at the airport long before check-in began:

You can occupy yourself with “excursions” to shops operating on the territory of the airport. Even if you do not plan to buy anything, this option will help pass the time;
It is worth relaxing until check-in is completed by relaxing in a cozy cafe, and at the same time having a bite to eat while waiting for your flight. At international airports, such establishments offer a large selection of good quality fresh food;
If, while preparing for the flight, it was not possible to grab an interesting book from home, you can buy it at the station (or a couple of fascinating magazines);
A passenger with a laptop is more fortunate - he can chat on the Internet while waiting. Some airports have a free Wi-Fi zone;
For mothers traveling with small children, a rest room is open, where the baby can not only be swaddled, but also give him the opportunity to sleep a little;
There is also a corner for the entertainment of small passengers at the airport. Playgrounds will distract them from tedious waiting and relieve them of the need to be capricious;
At a number of airports there are also paid rooms for the rest of adult passengers, equipped with comfortable beds. If you don't feel like sleeping, you can watch TV;
Many passengers on international flights prefer to walk around the duty-free zone, where many interesting duty-free goods are sold.

Video

If you are going to unwind while waiting for the flight, do not forget about how much before departure you need to board the aircraft. If you managed to fly with a low-cost airline, then it is better to hurry up in order to have time to take a comfortable chair.

To take your seat in the cabin, you must check in for the flight.

You can do this in two ways:

Check-in at the counter at the airport

Check-in at the airport opens 2 hours before departure, please plan your time and arrive early. In addition, please read the baggage rules carefully.

Time:

Check-in at the counter opens 2 hours (at Vnukovo Airport - 4 hours) and ends 40 minutes before departure.

Airports of individual states may set special requirements for the check-in deadline. In this case, the check-in end time is indicated in the itinerary receipt.

Check-in and boarding:

Check-in at the airport starts no later than 2 hours and ends 40 minutes before the flight departure time, except for departures from the airports of Karlovy Vary, Leipzig, Istanbul (Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen International Airport), Eindhoven, Berlin (Tegel), Milan ( Bergamo), Cagliari and Genoa. Check-in at the airports of Karlovy Vary, Leipzig, Istanbul (Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen International Airport), Eindhoven, Berlin (Tegel), Milan (Bergamo), Cagliari, Genoa, Dubai, Eilat and Riga ends 60 minutes before the flight departure time. Boarding for the flight ends 25 minutes before the departure time of the flight. A passenger who is late by the time of check-in or boarding is not allowed to fly.

Registration procedure:

In order to check in, the passenger must be personally present at the airport, present at the counter the document for which the ticket was issued when booking, and check in the luggage.

Unaccompanied minors can only be checked in for a flight at the check-in counter at the airport of departure (the service is provided free of charge). Online check-in for this category of clients is not available, as the accompanying documents for the transportation of an unaccompanied child are issued at the check-in counter at the airport of departure.

Passengers who have booked the “extra seat” service (extra seat) receive a boarding pass for an extra seat at the check-in counter at the airport of departure until the end of check-in for the flight (the boarding pass is printed free of charge). Otherwise, the airline may not be able to provide you with the “extra seat” service (extra seat).

For passengers departing from Antalya, Alanya, Bodrum, Dalaman, after passing the online check-in, a printout of the boarding pass is required at the airport at the check-in counters.

Additional Information:
- Before leaving for the airport, make sure that your baggage complies with the baggage allowance rules of Pobeda Airlines. Book additional baggage on the website no later than 4 hours before the departure time, using the "My Account" or "Manage Booking" services, as well as through the airline's call center.
Online check-in

To save time on going through pre-flight formalities at the airport, you can check in on the website.

Time:
- Online check-in for passengers departing from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Ufa, Astrakhan, Cheboksary, Perm, Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Magnitogorsk, Yekaterinburg, Gelendzhik, Vladikavkaz, Omsk, Min. Waters, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Anapa, Sochi, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Surgut, Volgograd, Kirov, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Ulyanovsk, Makhachkala, Petrozavodsk, Magas, Rostov, Samara, Krasnodar, Saratov, Nalchik, Murmansk opens 24 hours before and ends 40 minutes before departure.
- For flights from Moscow (Vnukovo) a printed boarding pass is required!
  IMPORTANT: at the airports of St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Cheboksary, Perm, Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Magnitogorsk, Yekaterinburg, Gelendzhik, Vladikavkaz, Min. Waters, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Anapa, Sochi, Chelyabinsk, Volgograd, Kirov, Novosibirsk, Makhachkala, Petrozavodsk, Magas, Nalchik, Murmansk do not work with electronic boarding passes - a printout of paper boarding passes is required.
- Online check-in for passengers departing from airports of foreign countries opens 24 hours and ends 4 hours before departure.
Registration procedure:

Additional Information:

Please note: the client is responsible for the operability and serviceability of mobile devices until the end of boarding on board the aircraft.
Please note that the online check-in system will independently assign a seat in the aircraft cabin to a passenger departing from an airport of a foreign state, if the passenger has not previously paid for the service of choosing a specific seat in the aircraft cabin in the manner prescribed by the rules for applying fares and fees.
Before starting the check-in procedure on the site, make sure that the baggage you plan to take with you meets the free allowance or has already been paid for. Book extra baggage on the website no later than 4 hours before the departure time, using the "My Account" or "Manage Booking" services, or through the airline's call center: checking in excess baggage at the airport costs significantly more and takes longer.

Check in for a flight from home or office

All you need is a computer or mobile device
You yourself choose a comfortable seat in the cabin

In accordance with the terms of the Seat Selection service
Skip the lines at the front desk

Use mobile boarding pass for security checks (not available at all airports)

Conditions for online registration

You are traveling on your own Nordwind Airlines (N4) flights
Before the flight departure no more than 24 hours and no less than 1 * hour. * For flights departing from foreign airports in the Russian Federation - 4 hours (except for Antalya, Yerevan, Cam Ranh, Cancun)
You are flying without animals, weapons or luggage in the passenger seat
You don't need special services. For example: accompanying people with disabilities, accompanying a child without parents and others
There are no prohibited items or substances in your baggage or carry-on baggage

How to register online?

Step 1
Search for passengers

In the form, indicate the passenger's last name and ticket number. After that, click on the "Search" button. If several people are flying, add fellow travelers using the "Add Passenger" button. After filling in all the data, click "Go to online registration".
Step 2
check-in

At the check-in stage, you can choose a seat in the cabin and order additional services. After selecting the necessary services, click on the "Register" button.
Step 3
Payment for additional services

Pay for additional services selected in the previous step. When paying, please provide a valid phone number and email address. This is necessary to send you a receipt for the payment.
Step 4
Getting a boarding pass

Receive and print your boarding pass. You will need it to go through security and to board the plane. If you cannot print your boarding pass, please do so at the airport check-in desk.

Transfer passengers

In the case of travel by transfer flights, it must be remembered that check-in for a flight for each individual section opens 24 hours and ends 1 hour before the departure of the flight in this direction.

If more than 24 hours remain before the departure time of the second flight during online check-in, check-in will be available only for the first leg of the route.

For your convenience, you can:

Use the online check-in service in stages for each flight (according to the start and end time of online check-in for this flight)
Use the online check-in service at the same time for all flights in the route (during the period coinciding with the period of online check-in for both flights in the route)

Mobile boarding pass

On flights departing from:
– Sheremetyevo Airport (Moscow), domestic and international destinations;
– Pashkovsky airport (Krasnodar), domestic destinations;
– other airports, we recommend to clarify the possibility in the information service of the airport of departure;
when passing through pre-flight inspection, at passport control, at the boarding gate and on board the aircraft, it is enough to present a boarding pass on the screen of a portable device.

For this you should:

Save your boarding pass to your device in case you don't have internet access
Make sure your electronic device has sufficient battery power

Additional Information

On flights operated under a codeshare agreement with Pegas Fly, online check-in is not available.
Upon arrival at the airport, the passenger is obliged to present to the check-in counter of his flight for weighing and registration all baggage, hand luggage and personal belongings.
Online check-in for fares: "Light Economy", "Optimum Economy", as well as for passengers of charter flights is available subject to ordering the "Seat Selection" service. If you do not need the online check-in service, you can use the standard check-in procedure at the departure airports.
You can familiarize yourself with the norms for the carriage of checked and excess baggage.
Even when going through online check-in, remember the time required to go through all the mandatory pre-flight procedures (security control, and for international transportation - customs formalities). It is recommended to arrive at the airport early!
If, after completing the online check-in procedure, you need to change or return your ticket, you must cancel the check-in by contacting the airline's contact center no later than 40 minutes before the flight departure.
For flight safety reasons, the airline reserves the right to change the seat chosen by you on board the aircraft, at the direction of the aircraft commander.
For passengers with Hahn Air (H1) tickets, online check-in is not available.
On some foreign destinations, after completing online check-in, the passenger will be notified of the need to contact the check-in desk at the airport to obtain a boarding pass of the form established by the airport.
Check-in for a flight using self-check-in kiosks located at airports is available for passengers who have pre-registered the Seat Selection service.

Start of registration - main stages

Registration time. When to arrive at the airport

Differences in the check-in procedure at different airports

Requirements of air carriers for registration on low-cost airlines

How long does it take to check in for a low cost airline flight?

How to stay calm when boarding a plane

Registration procedure

Online registration

A period of time

Airports

Airlines

How not to turn registration into a nightmare

If there is free time before departure

Video

Check-in at the counter at the airport

Time:

Check-in and boarding:

Registration procedure:

Online check-in

Time:

Registration procedure:

Additional Information:

Check in for a flight from home or office

You yourself choose a comfortable seat in the cabin

Skip the lines at the front desk

Conditions for online registration

How to register online?

Search for passengers

check-in

Payment for additional services

Getting a boarding pass

Transfer passengers

For your convenience, you can:

Mobile boarding pass

For this you should:

Additional Information