Der Direktflug kommt heute am anderen Terminal an.

The full verb is ankommen, meaning to arrive.

In German, ankommen is a separable verb:

• an = the separable prefix
• kommen = the base verb

In a normal main clause, the conjugated part goes to position 2, and the prefix moves to the end:

• Der Direktflug kommt heute am anderen Terminal an.

You can compare:

• Ich komme morgen an.
• Wann kommt der Flug an?

But in an infinitive, it stays together:

• Der Direktflug wird heute am anderen Terminal ankommen.

Direktflug is a compound noun:

• direkt = direct
• Flug = flight

In German compound nouns, the last part usually determines the gender. Since der Flug is masculine, der Direktflug is also masculine.

So:

• der Flug
• der Direktflug

This is a very useful rule for German compounds.

am is a contraction of an dem.

So:

• am anderen Terminal = an dem anderen Terminal

This is extremely common in German:

• am Bahnhof = an dem Bahnhof
• am Flughafen = an dem Flughafen
• am anderen Terminal = an dem anderen Terminal

English often just says at the other terminal, but German uses this prepositional phrase.

Because it follows dem, which is hidden inside am = an dem.

The full phrase is:

• an dem anderen Terminal

Here:

• dem = dative singular
• anderen = adjective ending that matches this structure
• Terminal = neuter noun

So the adjective ander- takes -en after a definite article in the dative singular:

• an dem anderen Terminal
• in dem anderen Gebäude
• bei dem anderen Gate

This is part of German adjective declension.

Good question. With two-way prepositions like an, German often uses:

• accusative for direction: where to?
• dative for location: where?

But with ankommen, German normally treats the destination as the place of arrival, so the phrase is usually in the dative:

• am Terminal ankommen
• am Flughafen ankommen
• am Bahnhof ankommen

So even though arrival involves movement in real life, grammatically the focus is on the place where the subject ends up.

That is why am anderen Terminal is natural here.

German often prefers the order:

time before place

So in this sentence:

• heute = time
• am anderen Terminal = place

That gives:

• Der Direktflug kommt heute am anderen Terminal an.

This is a very common pattern in German word order.

Other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Heute kommt der Direktflug am anderen Terminal an.

But the original version is very standard and natural.

Here it most naturally means the other.

Because the sentence has am = an dem, it refers to a specific terminal:

• at the other terminal

If German wanted to mean at another terminal in a less specific sense, it would more likely use:

• an einem anderen Terminal

So:

• am anderen Terminal = at the other terminal
• an einem anderen Terminal = at another terminal

Sometimes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• ankommen = to arrive
• landen = to land

A plane lands on the runway, but a flight arrives according to the schedule. In travel and timetable language, ankommen is often the more natural choice.

So:

• Der Direktflug kommt heute am anderen Terminal an. = the direct flight arrives today at the other terminal
• Das Flugzeug landet heute ... = the airplane lands today ...

If you are talking about arrival information for passengers, ankommen is usually better.

Because all German nouns are capitalized.

So in this sentence:

• Direktflug is a noun
• Terminal is a noun

That is why they begin with capital letters.

This is one of the most noticeable differences from English, and it helps learners spot nouns more easily.