Sorry to ask what may seem a silly question but does the minimum transfer time apply to just the transferring passengers or does the aircraft they will be transferring on to also have to be at the airport for the same period of time?
So for example, AC2 provides transferring pax for AC1. AC2 lands at the hub at 12:00 (min. trfr time is 45 mins), which tells me that AC1 can not depart until 12:45 at the earliest. But does it also mean that AC1 should have arrived at the hub no later than 12:00 or does AC1 only really need to worry about it's turnaround time (which is only 20 mins for example)?
I'm assuming here that AC2 can land, unload the transferring pax and set off again in 20 mins but please correct me if I'm wrong.
AC1 only needs to be on the ground for the turnaround time. Passengers and cargo will simply remain on the aircraft. Passengers from AC2 require the minimum transfer time because they are changing aircraft.
I know AC1's own passengers will simply stay on-board but I just wanted to clarify that any additional AC2 passengers will still be able to board AC1 if AC1 is only on the ground for 20 mins - as long as those new passengers have been at the airport for at least the minimum transfer time of course?
Yes, you’ve got it correct. It doesn’t matter when the second aircraft arrives (beyond the turnaround interval) as long as the connecting passengers have been on the ground for the connection time.