Gold Coast Coolangatta Airport Passenger Reviews and Traveller Reports

Driving into and out of GC is the easy part, the rest is more of an ordeal. Having flown both International and locally recently I find the queue bearable for the low cost option. The airport is busy and for a major tourist destination it is not a good face for foreign tourist coming and going. My major bugbear is once you are going to international departure or returning you are funnelled through duty free, which causes major bottle necks. Immigration the smart reader queue is longer than the actual queues to see an immigration officer. But my top bug bear is in the departure areas can not find a water dispenser so you are forced to buy $5 bottles of water. This is just a rip off.

We flew in from Singapore on Scoot on Jan 18. Long wait on plane to exit as back stairs were moved to plane then withdrawn forcing all passengers off at front. Another wait on tarmac as we had to allow passengers boarding another flight to cross in front of our exit pathway. Huge queue at a standstill before we could even enter terminal which then moved at snails pace through overcrowded duty free shop area before reaching customs area which offers only 3 electronic booths for e-entry. A cavernous arrivals hall awaited, filled totally with passengers attempting to retrieve luggage from the carousal and then join a line? Hard to tell really as there was absolutely no direction given by airport staff or airport signage. Customs officers appeared calm and we exited quickly once we reached the aforementioned exit point. We landed at 8.10 and walked out of the terminal at 10.15. I agree with previous comments, if you can possibly fly into Brisbane the drive down will take you much less time than the frustrating wait at the Gold coast terminal.

My wife and I flew into here morning after a Scoot flight from SIN. I can't help but reinforce the reviews before me. We also encountered the long queues in the duty free, immigration, baggage was a joke. It took over an hour to get our bags, to turn around and find another line for customs. We will never fly Scoot again as this is their airport.

Recently used this airport having not been here in about 5 years. They have done a major upgrade since then. I arrived on a Thursday evening and was off the plane and in my hire car in a matter of a few minutes - all good and smooth. The terminal is small so it was easy with the rental cars right outside the front door. However the return journey the next day was the exact opposite. I checked in and went to the Security Screening area. I was flying Business Class and was delighted to note there was a separate lane for Business/Platinum passengers especially as the queues were enormous. However despite the red carpet and gold railings for the priority queue this system was not being manned and this entry point was one of the two that had the enormous queue. I tried to get towards the front to see if the staff would push me through but they were far away and ignored you. I saw several other people try to find the entrance to the "fast track" security clearance but it did not work for them either. Normally this would be nothing more than an irritant but on this occasion it was a lot more than that. The queues were enormous and after spending 20 minutes in the queue my flight was starting to board and I had to ask to be let to the front of the queue which the people in front were agreeable to. I estimate it would have taken about another 10 minutes to clear Security otherwise i.e. a total of 30 minutes. Normally to get to the Gold Coast I fly to Brisbane and hire a car - I will return to that and recommend others do the same.

This is an airport fresh from major renovations and for domestic flights, it works. However for international flights, it is abysmal. In the mornings, there are 4 international flights arriving within minutes of each other. 3 wide bodied dual aisle aircraft from Asian destinations and a smaller aircraft from NZ. The inbound duty free area is ridiculously small and acts more of a choke point for the long queues in immigration, with people collecting duty free obstructing Australian passport holders from moving through. There are only 2 baggage carousels despite the 4 flights, meaning that the baggage from my flight could not be unloaded onto the carousel as it was jam packed with bags from the slightly earlier Jetstar from Osaka. The Japanese owners of these bags could not collect them, because they were stuck waiting for the single immigration official to clear them into Australia. It was over an hour after exiting the aircraft before my bag showed itself. Then faced another jammed line through customs.

This airport is very inefficient. The queues in this airport to check in and through customs and immigration are incredibly long and slow. The terminal isn't very clean especially the toilets and the facilities are appalling; no aerobridges, little transport to and from the airport, very crowded when the big international flights come in and food options are limited especially in the international section. It is an incredibly bad airport and no visitor or Australian arriving in Australia should have to put up with this. Most third world countries that i have visited have far better airports than this.

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Customer Rating :  3/5

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Customer Rating :  5/5

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Customer Rating :  4/5

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Customer Rating :  4/5

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Customer Rating :  2/5

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Customer Rating : 4/5

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Customer Rating : 3/5

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