How can I find the arrival gate for a flight?
Finding the departure gate of any flight in real time is not a big deal, however arrival gates are more tricky. I checked at least four airport websites, and none of them provides such details. Is there a general way to obtain such information? I don't need real-time information, some recent historic data should be perfectly sufficient.
Of course, I understand that gates change all the time, especially for arrivals, but I'd like to have a ballpark idea where the arrival gate would be -- most airports have separate gate groups for domestic, Schengen and international flights, and these tend to be bunched together, so going from one to another takes no time at all. However, transferring between different gate groups might take significant time on some airports.
As to why I need it -- my girlfriend and myself are flying from different locations to the same destination with a small time interval within our flights, and I'd like to surprise her right after she passes border control.
Finally, if no general information is available, information about arrival gates on Vienna International Airport (VIE) is enough.
Best Answer
For when you do need real-time data on arrivals gates, Google provides it inline with search results when you search for a particular flight. It works well in a mobile browser, too.
I've found these flight results to be very reliable, and even more up-to-date than the information available from the airlines themselves (caveat, I've only tried it with domestic US flights).
Pictures about "How can I find the arrival gate for a flight?"
What is the easiest way to find a gate at the airport?
Find your gateIt should be listed on your boarding pass, but the most up-to-date information can be found on departure monitors throughout the airport.What is arrival gate?
Definitions of arrival gate. gate where passengers disembark. type of: gate. passageway (as in an air terminal) where passengers can embark or disembark.Airport Guide for Beginners (including transit)
More answers regarding how can I find the arrival gate for a flight?
Answer 2
The data on arrival gates that is published online has a big problem-it is often inaccurate because the arrival gates get changed a lot. A previous flight out may be delayed so a gate hasn't been freed up; similarly if the flight in is delayed or may have missed its assigned slot etc.
So your best two options are:
- Look at the arrivals board if they have one airside. Some airports do, some don't.
- Ask a member of airport staff
Answer 3
You can find information on flightstats.com
I couldn't find such a information for the Vienna airports and the reason seems to be that there is only one arrival gate. Take a look at the airport plan: 
It seems that the arrival zone is small and all of the passengers are going out there
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Vincent Albos, Gustavo Fring, Gustavo Fring, Gustavo Fring