Luton Airport Passenger Reviews and Luton Airport Traveller Reports

First and last time I will use Luton Airport. Easyjet flight to Geneva December 2011. Huge queues at check- in, bag drop queue seemed to go down no faster than the normal check-in. Spent 1 hour in the bag drop queue with a red faced chap from Menzies (Ground Handling) shouting at passengers to get in the right queue. Screens were displaying the wrong information. Eventually a fourth desk was opened and called for remaining Geneva passengers. Ran as fast as possible to security, confronted by another massive queue. Got the attention of security staff and told them we were running very late and were in danger of missing our flight. She shrugged her shoulders and walked off. Took nearly another hour to get through security and we missed the flight. Thankfully we got on the next flight. This involved recovering our offloaded bags and going through check-in and security all over again. On return journey, waited another 45 minutes for the bags to be offloaded despite the fact ours was the only flight on the board. In short, an experience I will not repeat, I would rather pay more and fly from elsewhere, particularly with children. There are charges for everything and the staff had no interest in making sure people got their flights.

The worst airport I have ever arrived at. I knew it was going to be bad when passengers had to walk across the runway into a small door to arrivals. The passport queue was akin to being in a hospital corridor. The queue snaked backwards and forwards taking 45 minutes to pass, because there simply were not enough passport staff - those who were there were surly and unfriendly. The building was dirty and old. Eastern Europe airports I've been to are a million times better than this. The only positive thing was the bus to central London was easy to find and this was a nice journey, but nevertheless avoid Luton airport at all costs.

Once again had to fly from Luton so was ready for what was to come. Got dropped off at Ibis hotel and walked to terminal 15 mins walk. Headed straight to security and managed to get through pretty quick by saying flight was near to closing. Security staff needed proof of flight before letting me go to front of queue. All was going good until I arrived in departure area, then the misery started with the departure lounge in chaos with no seats and no information on flights. Never again will I use Luton.

Drop off for £1 is a rip off and to clear through security can take more then an hour. Missed my flight today along with 33 other passengers because departure displayed on the screen was 7 mins before the gate closed. Nobody came to explain what went wrong.

Have just had the misfortune to receive an £80 stopping, not even parking, fine from APCOA for having the audacity to pull over and put my wife's suitcase in the car outside of one of their £1 pick up rip off points, all in the space of 15 seconds. When you consider she had just flown in from Geneva, one of the worlds most expensive cities, where you can drop off passengers free of parking charges for 15 mins, it shows just how over-priced and greedy a once user friendly and great alternative to London's big two airports has become. Will now avoid using Luton, just like most other South East UK airports whenever possible.

Arrived Friday morning, checked in easily enough then had to queue for over an hour to even get to security. Security very very slow. We gave ourselves plenty of time arrived at 6.15am for an 8.10am flight, had to run to departure gate to board - will never travel from Luton again, sooner take a 2 hour journey to Doncaster Sheffield.

The queue of traffic to even get in to the airport can be suffocating and puts people at serious risk of missing flights. Luton has become famous for its lines of miserable, wet passengers, dragging luggage after them on the hard shoulder of the motorway, in an often futile attempt to make their flight. Once you've queued for the drop-off zone, you discover they rob you of £1 for the privilege of dropping someone off. The prices in the short term car park are expensive and the facility itself is a windswept, potholed plateau, miles from the terminal building. The terminal: an antiquated, depressing tin shed, lacking natural light, virtually any escalators or lifts for immobile passengers and they offer virtually no seating. The queues for passport control on the arrival leg have become legendary and are rarely less than 45 minutes. You, the passenger, are the least important consideration in this airport, your money is the most. I have routinely found myself paying over £100 extra to avoid having to fly from Luton Airport.

Horrible experience. Security was very overcrowded but they did not open up any extra lanes (there were 6 lanes which could have been used). The worst part though, was that when it was my turn to go through security, the woman pulled me aside and told me my bag of carry on liquids was too large. It was 1 litre which is clearly outlined as the limit on their website and I travel several times a month using the same bag. It was very disappointing since I tried to reason with her but she would not listen. A very stressful situation overall and I will not be flying through Luton again.

Never again. Luton airport is completely unfit for purpose. For departing passengers there are not nearly enough seats in the holding area in which you are forced to wait as they won't post the departure gate until 15-30 minutes prior to departure. Arriving back after a 5 hour flight was even worse. We were parked at a remote stand and bussed to passport control. There was chaos in the passport control hall. Two lines seemed to be moving towards the hall and I joined the faster moving of the two. A lady started yelling at us that we were in the wrong line and to "get to the back of the queue immediately". I waited for one hour for passport control - amazing incompetence with only 4 staff on duty. When I exited I looked for an information desk to guide me to an on airport hotel. I have yet to find an information desk.

Very long walk in cold air from Arrivals to short term car park. Only one machine where you could pay that I could see, and this was even further away - why not position it so you pass it between the terminal building and the car park? £7.50 for 35 minutes parking was bad enough, but I was shocked to see there was an extra £1.95 charge if I paid by credit card. How do they justify that?

Had great trouble getting dropped off due to the long queue of cars entering the airport. Security line was very, very long and it was only 6am. On returning, passport control line was nearly back to the doors of the apron with limited staff checking passports. Took 1 hour 45m ins to get out of the airport. Never again.

The approach road and car parking are a disgrace. The short term car park is full of holes and very poorly lit. Bus shelters inadequate in bad weather. Seating in the terminal lounges is inadequate on most days. The queuing for immigration is a nightmare, with a wait of 41 minutes on our last visit. We have seen a number of incidents on our recent visits, where there is a total lack of crowd management. People attempt to jump queues, which causes anger and aggression from others. We witnessed angry passengers pushing straight through the control desks with no attempts made to check passports whatsoever. We have been told that this has happened previously. The general impression of Luton airport is poor and getting poorer.

Dropped a passenger off for a very early flight. The approach road layout is very poor and confusing. Lanes go from two to one without warning and merge at roundabouts. The new exit road from the drop off zone snakes through car parks marked out by plastic temporary barriers and ad-hoc signs. The satisfaction comes just to get out! The whole thing looks amateurish and last minute . Add to this poor or non existent rail connections at high cost and tatty shed like terminal buildings and the impression is not good. I am prepared to pay a premium to just avoid flying from this place.

Good selection of restaurants and cafes in the main terminal building and the departure area. The biggest drawback was the lack of seating in the departure area. Any seating space seemed to be incorporated into a pub or restaurant leaving little in the general sitting area. The security queues in the departure area were quite incredible for such a small airport. Leave yourself ample time to get through this procedure. Obviously airport officials are aware of this problem and you can purchase for £3 a ticket that gets you through security faster.

Like many other reviewers my wife and I have never had an enjoyable experience when either flying out or returning to Luton Airport. Apart from being probably the only airport in the UK to charge passengers to be dropped off, you now find you end up travelling for ever just to get out of the place. Last week we returned to Luton after having a lovely holiday only to be subjected to at least an hour delay in getting through passport control and out of the airport which is not what you want having spent over four hours flying. It would be nice if the airport authorities could actually consider passengers rather than doing whatever they can to cause as much hold-up as possible. Take it from me we will not be using this airport again!

Beware if you've never travelled from Luton you are in for a treat. I'm not sure of the objective from Management but passenger enjoyment is not at the top of the agenda. From the moment you are charged to drop-off and the inevitable queue just to get to the Airport. The whole experience is to charge for everything. Their flight information line is Premium rate. The car parks are in a diabolical state of disrepair with potholes that fill with water and are "fun" at night in the dark. You get the impression that if you as miserable as sin you are guaranteed a job here. I frequently use all London's Airports and this one collects the "Mickey Mouse Award" as every modernisation they conduct just makes the experience even worse.

Dropped my partner off this early this morning, only to find that for the mere privilege of pulling up at the kerb, we had to pay £1. When I got home, I got a text from her to say that she'd had all her cosmetics confiscated at security because she didn't have them in a plastic bag "of the appropriate size". At every other airport I've ever been to, plastic bags are given away free, but at Luton, where wringing every last penny out of travellers is clearly company policy, they will charge you £1 (with, naturally, no facility to change banknotes). Of course, her last pound coin was the one that had been extorted from us at the drop-off point.

From the moment you arrive at this airport you realise that the sole purpose of the owners is to extract as much money from you as possible and in return provide you with a third world level of facilities. Charges are made for dropping passengers off, for collecting them, for plastic bags needed for security and for luggage trollies and if you want priority in the security queue there is a hefty charge for that too. In return you get long walks to gates with plenty of stairs in an almost totally escalator and lift free building and, at an airport where the low cost carriers encourage hand luggage that is a real ordeal. It is a drives who need to be fit to use this airport as they lug their cases up and own and up and down stairs. Still there is plenty of time to recover your breath at the famous Luton Airport passport queue. This is a perfect lesson for architecture students in how not to design an airport and if it was no so close and convenient for me I would not still be using it!

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Customer Rating :  4/5

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Customer Rating :  1/5

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Customer Rating :  2/5

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Customer Rating :  2/5

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