Warsaw Chopin Airport

I've flown to Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin many times in the past but this was my first time use of WAW T2 for both arrival and departure. The difference is incredible at least on departure. The new terminal is light well-ventilated and feels a little like a smaller version of LHR T5. The orange décor used throughout risks making the terminal feel like it's run by Easyjet but one gets used to it. Passing through passport control couldn't be quicker helped by the fact that the terminal has been divided into Schengen and non-Schengen areas by glass screens (passport control for the non-Schengen flights is about halfway along the terminal). Security clearance was quick efficient and friendly. T1 and T2 are linked together both landside and airside but one has to check-in at the appropriate terminal. Several airlines including LOT and BA now have long-overdue self check-in machines. T1 now looks increasingly tired and neglected with reduced facilities airside but retaining all its previous facilities landside. T2 however has few facilities landside but excellent facilities airside all the way from just after security to the far end of the terminal. Clearly this airport is finally making significant steps towards providing a quality service for passengers with improvements in customer service and politeness throughout. However it's not quite there yet. On arrival my and another passenger's bags were placed on the wrong belt without any warning which quickly stopped and hid our bags from view meaning that we waited for almost half an hour for our bags. On both arrival and departure there seemed to be plenty of free airbridges yet we were bussed both to and from the terminal as always seems to be the case at this airport. Why this is still the case is beyond me and clearly needs to be addressed.

Most of the negative coments about Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin are about the low-cost Etiduda terminal. The majority of scheduled airlines now depart the large and very modern Terminal 2. It's clean and very efficient. The duty-free shops are good though not too much variety. Most of the aircraft now board using walkways/gates. Some scheduled airlines do still operate from the smaller Terminal 1 though if do find yourself departing from there you can still walk through to Terminal 2 (once through security) just to sample it for yourself.

This was my first visit to Poland. The people the welcome the atmosphere were absolutely delightful! Then on may way back I had to go through Etiuda Terminal. Welcome to hell. All descriptions above are true I could verify all details. This terminal is probably the best monument to the glory of communism : everything is done to make you understand you're just an element of the herd.

Etiuda to Doncaster-Sheffield by WizzAir. Long queues dreadful conditions virtually non-existent facilities minimal information. The so-called departure "lounge" had more people on the floor than on seats (due to lack of seats/space). Even Poland's PKS (national bus service) stations are more pleasant than this and that's saying something. I had hoped that everything I'd read on here about Etiuda wasn't true but it is. Diabolical.

The Etuida airport is not a place you want to spend any time in if you can help it. When we arrived there was a massive queue leading out of the front doors and round the corner into the car park. Thankfully it moved fairly quickly. Then you get to the check-in desk. After your check-in luggage is weighed you then have to pick it up yourself and take it round to security and put it through the x-ray. This means that once you are in the queue for the check-in desk you are locked in to going through to the secure side. When I say "secure side" I mean a holding pen or some sort of converted (small) aircraft hanger with one make-shift kiosk. When we were there planes were being delayed and the holding pen was packed with passengers from the delayed planes and boy was it hot. Now normally at Etuida once you are in the holding pen you can't go back through to the other side. I actually asked once and was threatened with having my ticket cancelled. But at this time they were forced to let people back out so bad were the conditions - the smell of cigarettes from the toilets was also becoming overwhelming.

Chopin Terminal 2 or how to lose a winning game. The new T2 is almost fully functional. Almost - I still had to queue for check-in at T1 then walk and ride a rolling path to T2. A really long journey: although at this time (11 pm) the airport is not very busy three departures were gathered together in three adjacent gates at the end of the almost empty T2. Altogether 550 people flying LOT to Tel Aviv LOT to Larnaca and Atlas Blue to Agadir crowded trying to find out which queue is theirs. Foreigners would try hard to understand the PAs from the loudspeakers but they faced no chance. Some strolled looking for toilets which are well hidden - apparently the airport likes to play Hide and Seek.

Thankfully I had not read reviews on Etiuda before arriving there today. Can an airport seriously get away with this monstrosity in the 21st Century? And with this your final impression of Poland surely their tourist board would do well to petition for a shut down. Small the one shop/kiosk was closed and there was no service from the staff. Have to say we were lucky in that the flights were on time and the shambolic queues did not get out of hand. But I can imagine on a bad day. Just watching people faces as they entered the departure 'lounge' proved to be entertaining in a sick sort of way but if you didn't laugh you'd cry.

I just returned to Athens/Greece from Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin flying Norwegian. We had to use the notorious Etidua terminal to fly out. I read so many bad comments on the internet that I literally lost my sleep on my last night in Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin trying hard to hide my feelings from my wife as we were celebrating my birthday. Our flight was at 6am so we arrived at the terminal at 03h45am. We stood in a long but disciplined queue. After 30 minutes we checked in. Reasonable waiting time. We then dropped our suitcase as we were instructed to do and proceeded to the departure hall. A bit small to handle so many passengers but not suffocating. Shops opened at 05h something. Bought water and soft drinks plus two sandwiches. Though expensive (13 to 15 zlotys each) the food was delicious. We departed on time. Bottom line no drama! We travel a lot and have been through different situations. And Etiuda was by far not the worst. Taking into account what we saved by flying Norwegian I found the terminal ok. The airline very ok and reliable too. Just be there well ahead of time that's all. Or fly another airline and pay double or tipple. The choice is yours!

I was unfortunate enough to read all comments posted here on the Etiuda terminal after I have used it. Arriving from Athens to Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin with Norwegian Air Shuttle was a breeze since the Terminal 1 was used. But leaving Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin for Athens through Etiuda was really my worst check-in ever. The terminal is very small to handle all low-cost passengers and there are only 4-5 check-in desks resulting in a total chaos. There was a huge queue and not a proper one I might add since the place is so small not even queuing lines work. There is no information and signs people try to find their way into the crowd going all directions with their baggage. Once you manage to check-in after an hour's waiting on the queue you are required to stand another hour in the second queue for security scan while also carrying your baggage for x-ray scanning (they don't take it at the check-in counters). Flying budget airlines is not an excuse this is clearly the Chopin airport's problem. I have traveled with low-cost airlines in several airports (Athens Berlin Milan) and never faced this chaos before.

LOT from LHR and then to IST and found it quite efficient. There was a line up for imigration as only two non EU options out of six open the wait for bags was not too bad although it is confusing when you come across the lost baggage option before the actual baggage claim area. The check in to Istanbul was quick with only 10 people ahead of us and 5 counters.