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GENEVA AIRPORT Passenger Reviews and Traveller Reports
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 21 March 2013 by P Bardett (UK) |
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Rating : 0/10 |  |
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Recommended |  |
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30 minute queue just to get into the airport. Drop-off point closed to all traffic. Drop-off point empty. Why?
No directions for traffic. Had to vacate moving vehicle, retrieve bag and walk across empty drop-off point to
get into airport building. No instructions from staff. Queues as usual in the airport. Anyone using this
airport needs to get there at least three hours before flight check-in otherwise you are in danger of missing
your plane.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 21 March 2013 by Tapani Vuola (Finland) |
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Rating : 6/10 |  |
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Recommended | |
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Changed planes coming from Athens and continuing to Helsinki. The arriving plane was delayed because of
other traffic, and indeed the airport was very crowded, especially the tax free shop, where the entrance from
the connecting flights/tranfer led us. It was really annoying. Then the departure to Helsinki was in the
Schengen terminal D (no border control), which was far away from the arrival. The satellite terminal D has
very limited services: a combined bar/shop, which was horrendously expensive. I will use other airports for
my transfer in the future.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 28 January 2013 by John Cameron (UK) |
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Rating : 0/10 | |
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Recommended | |
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They had to close the airport due to snow on Saturday 19 January 2013. It was snowing quite heavily, but
you would imagine that it does this quite a lot at Geneva, and they would be able to cope. Unfortunately,
they still could not get their act together. Umpteen flights cancelled, no information, nobody knew what was
happening, 4 hours to return the luggage, had to sleep on the floor. Absolutely no assistance from airport
management, in the way of refreshments or blankets, and then biblical queues again in the morning to get on
the rescheduled flights, which I am sure meant that people missed their flights. There was me believing all
the hype that Switzerland is an efficient country!
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 28 January 2013 by J Knockaert (Netherlands) |
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Rating : 1/10 |  |
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Recommended | |
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Arrived at the airport 55 min before gate closing time for an intra-Schengen flight. I had already checked in
before. It took me 50 minutes to get through baggage drop-off and security. Especially the latter is horribly
inefficient. Waiting time at the security was well over 30 minutes, with only half of the security gates staffed
and a priority row eating away half of the remaining capacity. That's a disgrace. I ended up having only five
minutes to get from security to a D-gate. The D-terminal is basically a hut on the apron (with a very bad PA
system for boarding announcements), to be reached through a tunnel. By running the whole end I barely
made it in time. I'd advise anyone considering to travel from this airport to allow plenty of time.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 22 January 2013 by B Strong (UK) |
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Rating : 1/10 | |
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Recommended | |
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DNATA ground staff are absolutely hopeless - all very pleasant but so poorly trained. During the recent bad
weather causing disruption, queues went on for hours and hours with none of the staff making
announcements or communicating. We queued for 2 hours only to be told they couldn't check in our flight yet
as they weren't sure how late it was going to be - yet why did the staff patrolling the queue not announce
this to anyone? This situation continued over the several hours we eventually spent queuing at check-in over
the next 20 hours. No organisation skills at all. Also, as might be expected in Switzerland, all food and shop
prices were astronomically high (and it's not because you're paying for quality - €20 for a cheeseburger meal
at Burger King for example!). There's a long trip to the gates from the central shops too, with only minimal
facilities near the gates.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 14 September 2012 by E Stuart (UK) |
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Rating : 1/10 | |
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Recommended | |
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Travelled from Geneva to Manchester yesterday. For a country whose efficiency is supposed to be famous it's
fairly terrible. Got to the airport (already checked in) 90 minutes before flight. In baggage drop queue for over
half an hour (easyjet) at which point a special call was made for my flight, and there was a stampede to the
dedicated desk. No dedicated bag drop line unlike at other easyjet airports which appears to be a sticking
point. Then there was a further 40 minute wait at security despite the screens saying it was a maximum wait
of 10 minutes. There is then a third queue for passport control - that in itself is quite efficient but why put
the queue right at the end of the moving walkway so everyone crashes into each other? I got to the flight 5
minutes before departure. No wonder there is no one in the duty free shops or restaurants, no one has any
time as they're all in the queues.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 14 July 2012 by Scott Schmidt (USA) |
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Rating : 2/10 |  |
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Recommended | |
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Had to travel through Passport Control in Geneva on my way from Barcelona, Spain to Washington DC, USA.
They only had two government workers there for 500+ passengers. It took over 30 minutes to pass through.
In addition, there was no information while waiting on line, if your connecting flight was late or it was going
to wait for you, if you were late.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 5 June 2012 by David Monteiro (Switzerland) |
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Rating : 6/10 | |
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Recommended |  |
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Travelled several times during the last months using GVA. Overall the airport is functional and pleasant to
use. Major problem is going through security, I don't know how they manage it but it always takes ages to
clear security even when there are only a few travellers.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 6 February 2012 by L Lim (Singapore) |
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Rating : 2/10 | |
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Recommended | |
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LHR-GVA return in Jan. Queues are as awful as 4 years ago and reminiscent of Shanghai's domestic airport
(Hongqiao) before its upgrade last year. Convoluted flow system both for arrival and departure, and
insufficient space for the passenger volumes. Arrived 2 hours before my flight back to LHR and every check-in
counter including business class was maxed out with luggage overflowing everywhere as it's ski season.
Dining facilities improved but all options are horribly expensive with a Burger King meal going at around
SFr15.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 5 January 2012 by Pamela Grant (Switzerland) |
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Rating : 2/10 | |
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Recommended | |
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Getting worse and worse. Who in their right mind designs one security area for all departures? Who puts
customs at the end of a moving escalator so you all fall into each other? Coming into Geneva again faced by
two customs offices, but most people do not know as they face the opposite sides so have to fight your way
through an angry crowd to get to the other side where there are seldom people. Toilet cleanliness is poor.
Only good thing is the food choice which is much better. Unless they take notice of feedback, this airport is
to be avoided if you can.
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GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 21 September 2011 by S Kerr (UK)
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |
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All I can comment on are the endless queues. After arriving with plenty of time for my flight I spent all of it in
queues. The Easyjet check-in was a shambles, lots of people forced into one long queue, not all kiosks were open,
so staff unable to handle volume efficiently. You have to check yourself in at machines before joining the queue, so
everybody were doing was dropping off bags. After that queue security was crazy. You could choose from one of
four queues with about one or if you were lucky two security points open. This was for all flights, so queues again
a nightmare. Easyjet gate was of course the farthest away, so by the time I got there we were boarding, so
joined yet another queue. If Geneva airport wants people to spend money at the airport they should think about
making the whole process more efficient so we actually have time to shop.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 28 July 2011 by C Nichollson (UK)
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |
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Restaurant, food and drink facilities are very poor, what there is, is very expensive. In the so called Tax Free shop
prices were astronomical. As I go to the Alps the large baggage handling point staff can get really irate if you try to
get something through, which may be okay coming into the airport, but getting out is a major problem for them.
The man forcefully insisted I go and buy some Swiss Francs, and buy a cardboard carton to put my bike in, just so
handling staff can put it on a belt, and no receipt given either. At Heathrow, as long as I've turned bars around and
put the saddle down they'll take it as is, this saves me having to carry packaging around Europe.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 21 July 2011 by R Hdez (Switzerland)
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |
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I have been a user of Geneva airport throughout the years and it is becoming a very low cost airport in terms of
services, facilities and comfort. The only thing that has improved at Geneva is the duty free area, it is far too big
for such a small airport.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 20 May 2011 by S Cage (UK)
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |
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I fly in and out of Geneva every week. All I can say is that the experience is getting worse
and worse. The security queues are pathetic considering the whole system has been replaced.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 5 May 2011 by R De Domenico (Switzerland)
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |
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This is one of the worst airports I have visited. The main issue is that they queue everybody
together both at check-in and at security check. Even if you do online check-in or you use the
machines to do the check-in, you then need to queue together with everyone else only to drop in
the luggage! With such a system you always need to be at the airport at least 2 hours earlier,
and even more in more crowded times. In addition the parking areas are not enough and often you
are re-routed to the EXPO area from where you need to walk even in uncovered areas.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 18 March 2011 by M Phillips (UK)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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Having used GVA twice a week since January I can say that it is, on the whole, a pleasant
experience. I always check-in online and so bypass the check-in desks, but I can imagine that
during peak periods it can be a frustrating experience, the same can be said for security. I
mostly travel during the early/late afternoons so security is rarely busy, when it is I find
it efficient and the staff courteous. My only gripe is those passengers that block the
conveyor with their trays even though there are signs saying to keep moving. Once through
security the departure area is airy and fairly well designed, if you want to get away from the
crowds follow the signs to the smoking lounge on the upper floor, there is plenty of seating
outside this lounge and it is never busy. I do find that the food is expensive and overall
duty free is really no bargain.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 18 September 2010 by Rory McLoughney (Ireland)
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |
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Extremely poor experience at Geneva airport - I rate this as one of the worst airports I've
passed through in terms of their absolute inability to handle busy periods. We went through on
Jan 8th which coincided with Russian holiday and as a result the place was busy with skiers
heading home. However, there was no system for the check in process; we all had to mix it
together, a long, snaking queue for about 1hr to get to our check in desk - having finally
been checked in, we headed to security where we spent another 50 minutes standing in line
while shuffling slowly forward - a horrible experience! The only positive I can pull from the
experience was the rather lovely restaurant on the top floor where we abandoned ourselves for
90 minutes before heading for check in - it was pricey but provided gorgeous fare and is the
only reason for those 2 stars, the rest left a lot to be desired.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 13 April 2010 by Paul Van Alsten (France)
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |
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GVA does not rank among my favorite airports. On the positive side: airport has its own
railway station with regular connections to downtown Geneva (10 mins travel time) as well as
major Swiss cities. Airport terminal and lavatories very clean. Many annoying issues however:
Air France flights depart from the French Sector which is hard to find - you have to look for
a small sign displaying "Destination France". French Sector is basically a limited area at the
very end of the building. Self-service check-in hassle-free but very long queues at security -
no Fast Track for status passengers; only one lane open while other screeners just kept
chatting with each other. There is not much to do airside - two small duty-free shops and an
overpriced cafe; hardly any view on the apron. All in all Zurich is much more enjoyable.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 22 March 2010 by Jeff Michel (Switzerland)
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |
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Like the previous comment the security lines at Geneva really need to be addressed. They are
the ones that implemented the new system of security prior to the departure lounge but they do
not open enough of the security lanes, only 4 out of 12 or so lanes open and a wait of over 20
minutes to get through - simply not good enough. Geneva runs the danger of getting a bad
reputation due to this inept system, especially when you see the calm efficiency at Zurich!
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 17 March 2010 by David Iles (UK)
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |
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Travelling home from Geneva 08 March once again demonstrated to me how inept this airport
really is at managing the security queues. Whilst the infrastructure has much improved since
2008, what is the point in having multiple security check points and opening just 4. Having
left plenty of time to catch the plane we were not in danger of missing the flight but a wait
time of over 25 mins is unacceptable especially when there must have been 6 - 8 check points
closed. The staff appear to have a could not care less attitude.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 15 February 2010 by O Alcantara (Mexico)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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I have been to this airport 3 times but I had always used the French Section. If you don’t
know the airport of Geneva is in two countries : Switzerland and France. All the flights going
to France (AirFrance) arrives in the French section. Let me tell you something, if you will
depart from here there is nothing! When you pass the security check there is only a very but
very expensive shop with some magazines and chocolates and another of beverages, breads, etc…
So this was my first time at the International section, first of all is much bigger but that
also means it takes you more to get pass through the security point. After that is like many
other airports. Many stores, duty free, etc and is also nice. But if you are taking a flight
out of Europe like to New York with Swiss or in my case Newark with Continental you need to
pass a immigration point. After that you arrive to a small area with two stores and free
internet. Then you can board your plane. So I can say knowing this airport pretty good that is
a clean, “modern” , and with many facilities. But I cant say the same thing for the French
sector, is actually kind of bad.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 17 January 2010 by Ralph Janssen (Netherlands)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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Small airport but if you're not departing from the main terminal you have to walk a long end.
Passport control/customs on arrival, no queues (they've removed passport control). On
departure small queue with passport, but at security bit long. No efficient screening. Not
much shops and food-outlets after screening, so buy some snacks before entering the terminal.
Not much seats in the waiting area, could improve.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 9 January 2010 by A Kosten (France)
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |
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When I last arrived at Geneva Airport I made two, very brief, telephone calls in one of the
telephone booths using my credit card. When looking at the screen I had the impression that
each call was several cents, but on receiving my bank statement I see that each call was in
fact over 19 Euros! 100 times more than I expected!! I assume that there was some mistake, as
I certainly saw no warning on the booth that there was a minimum price, so I contacted the
airport, but they said the phone booths were run by Swisscom, so I contacted them several
times, but only received automatic replies. So, avoid using your credit card with the phones
at Geneva airport!
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 8 January 2010 by Dang Pham (Canada)
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Customer Rating : 5/5 |
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Very efficient Airport. Fast Line for VIP, Business and First Class passengers is well
indicated and functional. Airport Security Personnel are very efficient and courteous. It take
me only 1 minute to pass the security check point. Walking distance are short and sign are
well indicated in English which is very helpful for international passengers. It's a French
City Airport but the personnel speak well English and make international passengers feel
welcomed (You must pass by CDG to appreciate the differences). Shopping offers very large
choice of luxury items and Fine Restaurants exist here.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 7 December 2009 by G Jardin (UK)
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |
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Compared to most UK airports, GVA is pretty good: not too large, OK security, OK baggage
reclaim and even a gourmet restaurant on the top floor. But it is definitely second best in
comparison to ZRH which works better despite being much bigger. In particular, the circular
gate area used for many of the UK flights was unacceptable: not enough seats to cope with 4
different delayed flights.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 15 October 2009 : by J Franz
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
I use Geneva Airport 5 times a month minimum. For the past year or so, the airport has gone
through major infrastructure upgrade. Even if at some times it was dreadful to go through the
airport, it is getting better. They just opened a new security check point - first week was a
nightmare even if queuing time was quicker than before, but since last week it is a pleasure
to pass through security. I have always found English speaking staff.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 6 April 2009 : by L Lockwood
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Customer Rating : 1/5 | |
This is simply the worst airport I have been in. I was an EasyJet passenger and had to depart
through the B gates, there is a little tunnel to get to the B gate and there were live wires
hanging out through the ceiling. At the terminal itself there was only a little cafe with
nothing in terms of souvenirs. In the departure lounge there is nowhere to sit except in a
tiny overpriced cafe. Unless you want to buy jewellery there is not much to do airside.
Landside there is a small starbucks and a couple of shops but nothing amazing. Avoid!
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 6 April 2009 : by B Ward
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
The terminal was clean though very dated. Staff were efficient if not friendly and not happy
that I couldn't use the self check-in terminal as it wouldn't recognise my booking. Security
queues were long but quickly processed. Was not made aware of the pre boarding document check
at the gate and was removed from the line to get my documents checked for the fourth time
before being allowed to board. An OK airport
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 27 February 2009 : by Bob Smith
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Customer Rating : 2/5 | |
I pass through Geneva 3 or 4 times a year on holiday trips mostly. I rate an airport on how
easy it is to get to and from, find things in it, available space to sit and wait for a
flight, how well it sorts the baggage side out and what it costs to do simple things like buy
food, water and a hot drink. Geneva has good transport links so scores well there. If you are
stuck there for any time, there seems very little space before security to comfortably rest
one's bones (ie not the floor) but perhaps that is due to the work being carried out in the
airport and that I travel at busy holiday times. There is plenty of space afterwards though.
The baggage collection side of the airport is frankly chaotic and inefficient. he airport
aslo fails miserably when it comes to providing food, drink etc at fair (even for an airport)
prices. For example to buy water after security and a 750cc bottle cost 5.20 euros. It costs
1 euro in the UK and 2.75 in Barcelona. Other food and duty free prices are equally high if
you are just a regular traveller. It is Switzerland I know but there are prices and then high
prices; I found it an expensive place. Security checks were rather lax on the last two trips
I have been on especially when compared to my local airport. Not my favourite airport.
GENEVA AIRPORT customer review : 31 December 2008 : by A Bell
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
I use it weekly, both in and out and have done for 4 years. If you are not skiing on a Saturday when
it appears to be bedlam (as it is not a big place), it is a fast, modern and clean place. Fitting
are generally high quality. It is true that it can be annoying that the airline lounges are before
security as you can't stay in them up until the last minute as the time to clear security is highly
variable. It can be very fast at slack periods, or there may be quite a queue. If you want a high
quality Swiss watch, all the brands are there in Duty Free - an impressive selection. If you want to
bring home Swiss food, don't wait to clear passport control - it will cost you an arm and a leg. You
should use the shops near the train terminal. The airport is simple to find, bang on a motorway and
the train station is built in. For info, the most convenient car park, the P1 is more expensive than
the others. The P26 is the best. Only a short walk and cheaper, but harder to find. The
P50-something is a nightmare. Avoid. I find GVA a perfectly pleasant place and much nicer as an
airport than most. Compared to Gatwick it is in a different class.
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