This European Airport Will Surprise Any Traveler. It Doesn’t Take Much to Get You to the Wrong Country
EuroAirport is located between three countries. When leaving the terminal, it is easy to exit to a different country than planned.
EuroAirport is undoubtedly one of the most interesting facilities in Europe, where you can feel the freedom of traveling around the Old Continent like nowhere else. One airport serves three European cities – such a situation can be found in the international airport in Basel. Although, as the name suggests, we are in Switzerland, the airport itself is located on the French side. Just a few kilometers away is another border – this time with Germany. The Fly4free.pl service explains what unusual things passengers arriving here can see.
One airport, three countries
EuroAirport, also known as Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport, is a unique airport serving three countries – Switzerland, France and Germany. Although it is located on the French side, it is the Swiss city of Basel that is the largest city in its vicinity and this is where passengers usually head. “I flew to Switzerland, I ended up in France, and Germany is just a stone’s throw away (…). That’s not the end of the surprises – passengers standing next to each other may have a different airport code on their tickets, although we undoubtedly flew to the same place,” describes the editor of Fly4free.pl, who recently had the opportunity to visit the famous international airport.
Depending on the flight or carrier chosen, tourists can find the code BSL (IATA code for Basel) or MLH (referring to the French city of Mulhouse) on their boarding pass. Sometimes the code EAP (Euroairport) is also used. Regardless of the boarding pass designation, tourists can use the passages to both France and Switzerland. So when leaving the terminal, it is easy to find yourself in a different country than you planned. However, the airport is very well marked – so observant passengers should have no problem finding their way.
First baggage claim, then passport
This is not the only peculiarity of Basel airport. In this international airport, a surprise awaits us also when collecting our baggage. As standard, we can only take our suitcases off the belt after passport control. At Euroairport, travelers go to the passport desks (if they are not citizens of Schengen countries) already with their bags. “The issue of departures is equally interesting – connections from Switzerland are handled in a different part of the terminal than connections from France, and both parts have separate check-in and security check desks,” we read.