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LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 6 January 2009: by Phil Wegener

Customer Rating : 2/5

Gatwick North, airport looks decent but nothing special. Very long walk though in the North Terminal to get to the pier where the budget airlines are. After landing, it took me almost an hour reach the Gatwick train station, despite only carrying hand luggage. It also has to be said that the few train connections from the airport to London on a Sunday are absolutely shambolic for such a major city as London.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 31 December 2008 : by A Bell

Customer Rating : 2/5

Gatwick South Terminal is a miserable place to wait for a plane. There isn’t enough seating and the seating does not face the monitors announcing the flights. There are no spoken announcements concerning departures (restful), so you often have to leave your seat to check the monitor. You can either leave your belongings while you do this and risk having them stolen and incurring the wrath of the staff (you are constantly told over the tannoy not to do it), or take them with you and risk losing your seat. The monitors look to date from about 1970. I complained about them 3 years ago and was assured that there was a project afoot to update them. Nothing has been done. Upstairs, there are inadequate catering facilities meaning long queues for vile and hideously priced food. It’s not big either. You can’t get away from the crowds, or sit peacefully. All in all to be avoided which I do. Use City if you can – a far better experience. Gatwick is positively a third world airport, shabby, cluttered and falling apart.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 19 December 2008 : by David Leston

Customer Rating : 4/5

Qatar Airways have moved to the North Terminal, which has given them vastly improved facilities over those they had in the South Terminal. Progress through the terminal was quick and efficient - it wasn't a very busy day by the looks of it - and everything looked neat and tidy, with easy to follow signage. Only downside, the long walking distances to the gates.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 24 November 2008 : by R Smith

Customer Rating : 5/5

LGW-DUB-LGW with Aer Lingus. I have never seen the airport so empty on Friday am. Check in was a breeze, Security empty - straight through, good mixture of shops and bars. Boarding effective and efficient. Arrival, off the plane quickly, into Customs where Dublin and Jersey passengers were kept to one side and asking for boarding passes which was strange but nevertheless straight through to baggage reclaim where our cases were already on the belt. Within 15 minutes from landing was out of the airport. Very impressed.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 16 November 2008 : by J Booty

Customer Rating : 4/5

Checked in at around 11:45 on a Friday at North Term. and it was wonderful! Hardly anybody about, unlike the early morning crush that we have regularly encountered in the past. Security queues were minimal so we had plenty of time to spare. Coming back however, we had to walk for miles from the plane to baggage reclaim and then we had to wait almost an hour for our baggage because there were not enough handlers and this was at midnight.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 6 November 2008 : by David Gartside

Customer Rating : 3/5

Checked in mid-morning Thurs at N terminal with BA fast bag-drop / internet check-in. Efficient process, acceptable security, long walk to pier but all worked as it should. Return to same pier was OK, long wait for carousel to be nominated and not straight-forward to find bus-stop for long-stay car park - several failed light bulbs didn't help!

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 14 October 2008 : by J Byass

Customer Rating : 3/5

North terminal. Rarely fly from Gatwick. Seemed just as it had been 4 years ago; that is, acceptable from a transit point of view. Flying Club Class for a change gave many benefits which possibly masked any shortcomings. MCO was a revelation, 30 mins from exiting the aircraft to driving the rental car from the car park. LGW return was different. A modest wait at immigration, followed by a longer wait for the carousel, followed by a wait for a few bits of luggage, followed by wait for an almighty crash when the luggage arrived up to 3 across and 2 deep, plus sundry parts lying around. This part of Gatwick I remember well, although similar has happened at Heathrow. None of this can be controlled by the traveller, but if anyone else has any tips please post them.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 2 July 2008 : by Robert Bushby

Customer Rating : 4/5

I have criticised the place in the past so well done to those on duty at LGW South at 0800 or thereabouts on Sat 14 Jun. As pressure mounted at security we and some fellow outbound passengers were peeled off, whisked away and directed upstairs to a supplementary screening area. Once into the terminal proper it was clear that whilst not finished the remodelling of the first floor has allowed a bigger circulating area to be created. A good start to our holiday. On our return (28 Jun) - we were parked out at gate 999 - or so it seemed - but every moving walkway on the long hike to passport control was operational. It is these details that make or break so not quite 5 stars but definitely getting better. (Not BAA issues as such but passport lines were short and our bags were on carousel almost immediately afterwards)

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 30 May 2008 : by Michael Scott

Customer Rating : 2/5

I used North Terminal in the middle of a Friday morning. It was a miserable experience. Our check-in zone was Zone Z - a hard-to-find area alongside Zone A. Only two flights were checking in at Zone Z but there was no room for a proper queue and it was utter chaos. Long queues at security. Very long queues at every food outlet and shop in the departure lounge, and not nearly enough seating. The duty-free shops extend further and further into what used to be seating space, and the terminal becomes ever more overcrowded as a result. "Duty free" prices generally not that different to the prices you'd pay in any supermarket or department store in the UK. I'm giving Gatwick two stars - but only because it's not as bad as Heathrow.
 

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 21 May 2008 : by G Jardin

Customer Rating : 1/5

LGW-BFS. Quick progress through Security (although still no chairs to use whilst putting on shoes - is that not a fairly obvious customer care issue?). Didn't have long to wait for my on-time flight, and quite relieved. The South Terminal airside is not pleasant: claustrophobic, stuffy, a horrid shopping mall at its worst. There were loads of seats, but I wouldn't like to be there on a day of delays.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 11 May 2008 : by T Hollis

Customer Rating : 1/5

As a more recent visitor to the South Terminal for work trips, I have come to dread my visit. I always check in online, so have no comment to make on that part of the airport. Security queues seem to be reasonable when I'm there which is usually about 7am. It's airside that the problems start, with so many flights leaving the South Terminal there are always large numbers of passengers and, just not enough room for everyone. From what I can tell there is only one toilet area to serve all these people. If only some of the shops would make way for a few more places to buy some decent food. I don't want to eat McDonalds, a 20 minute wait to buy a coffee is just not good enough. The North Terminal is a much better experience but, unfortunately I don't get to use that part of the airport. I'm considering using City airport despite living 20 minutes drive from LGW, it's a much better experience. I hope that BAA are forced to sell Gatwick as something needs to be done.

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 7 May 2008 : by Mark Evans

Customer Rating : 1/5

Normally I am a satisfied and frequent user of LGW, which seems less prone to BAA Disease than its LHR big brother. The Achilles Heel though has been the shuttle link between South and North terminals. A three-minute peak time maximum wait is promised, when both shuttle trains are in use, otherwise one is promised a maximum six-minute wait. My previous moan has been that BAA seems fast and loose in its interpretation of "peak". But what happens when both shuttle trains are out of use? The answer, in short, is a mess. An almighty queue was backing up when I reached the shuttle gates to depart on Friday evening. "Shuttle Not In Service" the board announced, but within minutes one train at least was back in action - admittedly it was packed with stressed pax, but at least we reached the North Terminal in tolerable time. Returning yesterday, the shuttle was entirely broken, and buses were ferrying pax and their luggage back and forth. Presumably as the day was a public holiday, BAA was not able to muster any more than the three vehicles (and drivers) that were providing this emergency service - I'd hate to think was BAA was too stingy to pay for a more adequate service. Long lines were backing up, and this at the non-peak time of early afternoon, taking some 25-30 minutes before I could board one of the buses. The situation was within the limits of tolerable, and pax were surprisingly well tempered in the circumstances. Then a BAA under-manager type appeared on the scene, quite needlessly hectoring pax in an infant school teacher's voice to move up the line and close the gaps. This was very crass psychology - she should have been apologising in person to all and sundry. I saw two BAA suits in the distance, but they sensibly vanished before I could remind them that if they and their Spanish overlords had cared to spend more money on day-to-day maintenance and less on cooking up yet more "exciting retail experiences", this predicament would never have arisen, and that public faith in BAA would not be collapsing so spectacularly. Should BAA be broken up? Yes!

LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT review : 30 April 2008 : by Justin Edmonds

Customer Rating : 1/5

Why is it that BAA have a permanent ongoing make an airport look like a tip programme? Every time I pass through one of their airports there are always ceiling tiles missing, areas sheeted over, parts closed off etc. We flew recently from the south terminal which is rather small for the number of flights that use it. Airside is not very attractive a few shops & very few eating places compared to the North Terminal - unless you like burgers. As it was breakfast time there were long queues for the two restaurants & single coffee bar. Our plane departed from the roundhouse, on arrival there it was like a different world with empty shops & coffee bars. Had I known our plane was departing from there I would have walked down much earlier. Something needs to be done with our airports and fast as the sorry state of them is an embarrassment to this country.

Gatwick Airport review by N Sutherland

23 April 2008   Customer Rating :

It's been several years since I've passed though LGW and despite the increasing security measures I found it a significantly better experience than LHR. UK Domestic Baggage wait was reasonable in middle of the day. Signs and screens are still a problem and not easy to navigate your way around if you're not familiar with the airport, but there were plenty of Help Staff around which was excellent. Check-In was good in the South Terminal, Security in the early morning was quick, efficient, professional and polite. Good selection of shops with still enough space for people to sit but the Departure Gate areas are showing their age.

Gatwick Airport review by G Marsh

11 April 2008   Customer Rating :

On the outward and inward leg of our trip we were pleasantly surprised how efficient, courteous and helpful all the staff at Gatwick North were. Immigration staff were friendly and cheerful and welcoming, security staff although taking their jobs seriously were very kind and professional. Well done to the staff at Gatwick for helping to make the journey through Gatwick such a pleasure.

Gatwick Airport review by W Foster

10 March 2008   Customer Rating :

Flew outb from LGW South Terminal to Sanford, no problems with check-in, friendly and helpful security staff, reasonable airside shops and food outlets. Returning today absolutely awful, had to walk seemingly miles from arrival gate to immigration. Plane landed at 6.55am but apparently baggage handlers were refusing to work overtime and it was 9am before we finally got our baggage. BAA please get your act together.

Gatwick Airport review by Tony Bridge

5 March 2008   Customer Rating :

Checked in for a BA flight at north terminal with minimum fuss. Staff pleasant and courteous as they were at security and passport control. Everything seemed clean and tidy and a good range of shops and bars/restaurants on the airside, and ample space and seating around the gates.

Gatwick Airport review by Mattia Costa

12 February 2008   Customer Rating :

I connected in LGW on a Saturday afternoon - North terminal, incoming from Pisa and out to Amsterdam 2 hours later - and I am positively surprised by my experience. The security staff at connections point was very friendly and helpful, maybe because I was the only passenger there, but I could not experience such kindness anywhere else at an airport security check. Although the walk from and to the gates is quite long, it does not take more than 10 minutes and the signage is very clear. In my opinion, a perfect connection point for international flights!

Gatwick Airport review by Alan Wan

3 January 2008   Customer Rating :

A limited number of shops and restaurants were open but was good compared to my last flight on Xmas Day 2 years ago were there was only the World Duty Free, Yates and Upper Crust open. We checked in the night before using Virgin Atlantic's twilight check-in facility, security queues were short and we were through within 10 minutes.

Gatwick Airport review by Robert Bushby

20 December 2007   Customer Rating :

Flew Easyjet from LGW South on Sat 15 Dec and a lack of road traffic plus an on-line check-in the night before meant that I unintentionally had a bit more time to study the terminal and reach some conclusions. Firstly; at 0930 the security lines were commendably short but how much better it would be to have two people on the roller conveyor belt, not one and put a person on duty to load the trays with bags & jackets at the start and have someone put trays into the X-ray machine further along the track or even better get the type of conveyor installed where the empty trays pop out ready for refilling at the start of the tracking without having to be restacked by hand. Anyway that bit went slowly but ok but once inside the terminal was heaving. I reached the view that the principal problem was not the number of passengers that morning but the intrusion of point-of-sale carousels outside shops which create pinch-points where people are passing. Also the huge alchohol, watch and perfume counters along with the car raffle stand all take up valuable floor space. In essence the retail areas are eating into the public spaces and folks are being squeezed into less and less space. Another gripe was the uncleared tables in the refreshment areas. A radical solution would be to put a performance clause in the catering contract that no table remains uncleared for more than 90 secs or the provider gets jumped on. Frankly the impression remains that it is all about max profit and travellers are just viewed as passive cash cows. It was a relief to see my flight called and escape to the relative calm of the Easyjet waiting area. Before someone from BAA mutters 'rubbish' (and there was enough of that around) I have worked in aviation for 36 years and run a terminal and yes I know extra staff cost money but the trick is to motivate and manage them whilst overall there is a balance to be struck and it is currently tilted the wrong way. One constructive thought BAA - please put some signs on either the way down or at the bottom of the escalator from the first floor that can be seen easily to show the direction of the various departure gates, as it is people get to the ground floor and then cast around looking which way to go and stumbling into each other as they swerve round the booze counter.

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