Narrative:

Many changes have been made recently to the physical structure and operational procedures at the frankfurt/main airport (eddf) in germany with addition of a third; shorter; east/west runway. These changes have resulted in a chaotic and confusing situation; which needs to be addressed. The new runway; 7L/25R; has caused the airport authority the reorganize the published arrivals. They have been divided into north arrivals for the new northerly runway 7L/25R and south arrivals for the remaining runways 7C/25C and 7R/25L. The published arrivals present an orderly and logical reorganization; however frankfurt arrival control is not utilizing these arrivals in an orderly or logical fashion. They are also not communicating their intentions for arriving aircraft in a clear and timely manner. This results in considerable confusion in the cockpit and a dramatic increase in the workload during the arrival phase of the flight; a time that is already very busy. This has increased the potential for numerous errors and may lead to unsafe and dangerous situations. We were approaching eddf from the west [and made] several attempts to obtain the local ATIS via the ACARS that resulted in receiving only the departure ATIS information. No logical cause for this discrepancy could be found; so the arrival ATIS was obtained via the published VHF frequency. The conditions at the airfield were reported as VFR; broken clouds at 2;200 ft; visibility greater than 10 KM; with gusty winds from 220 at 15 gusting to 25 KTS; ILS to runways 25L/right in use; temperature 5C dew point 3C. Based on these conditions and our cleared route of flight; we had loaded runway 25L and the unoko 25S arrival. Our first indication of a deviation from this plan was when arrival cleared us direct to DF401. This waypoint is not on the unoko 25S; but is part of the unoko 25N. At this point; I queried arrival control if they wanted us on the north arrival and they respond in the affirmative. This being the case; we had to select 25R in the FMC in order to bring up the unoko 25N. As we were proceeding east on the unoko 25N we were told to expect runway 25L. The FMC data base in our aircraft does not permit the selection of a north arrival with a south runway. As a result; when 25L was selected all of the arrivals waypoints except the current waypoint dropped out forcing us to reselect 25R as our runway until the time we were vectored off the arrival. Examination of the published arrival chart showed unoko 25N is designated for runway 25R only and the FMC data base will not permit selection for any other runway. Adding to this confusion was frankfurt's lack in communicating their intentions until well into the arrival while descending slowing and changing configuration. This is the second time this month I have flown into frankfurt and was equally as chaotic as the first trip. Frankfurt arrival needs to communicate their intentions on first contact and needs to adhere to the published procedures or change those procedures to incorporate their intended deviations. Also the communication plan on the ground is overly complex. A trip from runway 7L/25R to the terminal results in no less than 3 frequency changes while transiting along taxiway north alone. The taxiway naming system in some cases is also confusing. A stretch of pavement connecting taxiways M and north has three different names over a 300 yard length; M8-L6-N3. I am sure on paper these changes appear reasonable. However; to those who do not regularly operate in and out of this airport they are confusing and potentially dangerous due to the resulting uncertainty.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EDDF TRACON does not identify the landing runway early in the RNAV arrival and changes the runway late in the arrival; causing FMS programming issues. Also; the new taxiway naming is complex.

Narrative: Many changes have been made recently to the physical structure and operational procedures at the Frankfurt/Main Airport (EDDF) in Germany with addition of a third; shorter; east/west runway. These changes have resulted in a chaotic and confusing situation; which needs to be addressed. The new Runway; 7L/25R; has caused the airport authority the reorganize the published arrivals. They have been divided into North arrivals for the new northerly Runway 7L/25R and South arrivals for the remaining Runways 7C/25C and 7R/25L. The published arrivals present an orderly and logical reorganization; however Frankfurt Arrival control is not utilizing these arrivals in an orderly or logical fashion. They are also not communicating their intentions for arriving aircraft in a clear and timely manner. This results in considerable confusion in the cockpit and a dramatic increase in the workload during the arrival phase of the flight; a time that is already very busy. This has increased the potential for numerous errors and may lead to unsafe and dangerous situations. We were approaching EDDF from the west [and made] several attempts to obtain the local ATIS via the ACARS that resulted in receiving only the departure ATIS information. No logical cause for this discrepancy could be found; so the arrival ATIS was obtained via the published VHF frequency. The conditions at the airfield were reported as VFR; broken clouds at 2;200 FT; visibility greater than 10 KM; with gusty winds from 220 at 15 gusting to 25 KTS; ILS to Runways 25L/R in use; temperature 5C dew point 3C. Based on these conditions and our cleared route of flight; we had loaded Runway 25L and the UNOKO 25S arrival. Our first indication of a deviation from this plan was when arrival cleared us direct to DF401. This waypoint is not on the UNOKO 25S; but is part of the UNOKO 25N. At this point; I queried Arrival Control if they wanted us on the north arrival and they respond in the affirmative. This being the case; we had to select 25R in the FMC in order to bring up the UNOKO 25N. As we were proceeding east on the UNOKO 25N we were told to expect Runway 25L. The FMC data base in our aircraft does not permit the selection of a north arrival with a south runway. As a result; when 25L was selected all of the arrivals waypoints except the current waypoint dropped out forcing us to reselect 25R as our runway until the time we were vectored off the arrival. Examination of the published arrival chart showed UNOKO 25N is designated for Runway 25R only and the FMC data base will not permit selection for any other runway. Adding to this confusion was Frankfurt's lack in communicating their intentions until well into the arrival while descending slowing and changing configuration. This is the second time this month I have flown into Frankfurt and was equally as chaotic as the first trip. Frankfurt Arrival needs to communicate their intentions on first contact and needs to adhere to the published procedures or change those procedures to incorporate their intended deviations. Also the communication plan on the ground is overly complex. A trip from Runway 7L/25R to the terminal results in no less than 3 frequency changes while transiting along Taxiway N alone. The taxiway naming system in some cases is also confusing. A stretch of pavement connecting taxiways M and N has three different names over a 300 yard length; M8-L6-N3. I am sure on paper these changes appear reasonable. However; to those who do not regularly operate in and out of this airport they are confusing and potentially dangerous due to the resulting uncertainty.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.