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Stansted Airport review by L Doran

9 October 2007  Customer Rating :

Airport security - what a joke! I realise that in these difficult times we all want to be safe and have to accept a certain amount of inconvenience to facilitate this, but my experience on Monday 1st Oct. was positively 'pythonesque'. In my hand luggage for the trip was my make-up bag (surely a necessity for all ladies!). After going through the x-ray machine an official opened up the bag and told me I would have to leave behind my mousse foundation which was contained in a small aerosol (50ml).When I queried as to why this was so, he explained that it must be placed in a plastic bag. My make-up bag is in fact made of plastic as I pointed out to him and has a zipper on the top to facilitate sealing. No he replied - this would not suffice, it had to be a clear plastic bag." Why "I asked; "In order that we can see it "he replied. "Well you are holding it in your hand, I replied. You can see what it is, I will squirt some out and put it on my skin if you like." "No, I have to take it away from you" he said. So I said " So if I had been in possession of a clear plastic bag to place it into I could have kept it then?" He replied "Yes you could - blame Mr. Brown" and with that he walked away and placed my items in a box behind the x-ray machine. So the security policy of Stansted airport claims that my small aerosol can of mousse foundation poses no risk inside a clear plastic bag but constitutes a risk to security inside my plastic make up bag! This is beyond ludicrous! All this constitutes to my mind is the theft of my property for no good reason at all and it is about time they recruited some employees with a bit of common sense.

Stansted Airport review by James Kansky

9 October 2007  Customer Rating :

Stansted suffers from overcrowding. In Summer it is horrible and simply can't cope with the crowds. But in Winter it not that bad. Getting to the gate is relatively quick. Shops and restaurants are decent, and much and more useful than at Heathrow. Only big downside is the Stansted "Express" train, which isn't an express train at all. uge difference given that most flights departing from Stansted are low cost flights.

Stansted Airport review by B Selourn

27 September 2007  Customer Rating :

This airport is truly an awful, mismanaged, under-designed nightmare of a place! Friday evening 21st Sept 2007, 40 minutes to clear security. If that wasn't bad enough worse was yet to come, returning Sunday night 23rd Sept arriving at 11.45. It took 80 minutes from getting off the plane to reach passport control. Stuck in the crowded corridors, packed shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other passengers, no ventilation. No idea what's going on other than 'to assist the arrivals process passengers may have to wait in this area for a short time'.

Stansted Airport review by Richard Chamberlain

27 September 2007  Customer Rating :

Arrived on time at 23.10 at STN on 22 September to proceed to the end of the queue which backed up to the airport gate. The queue was controlled and they let a few people proceed only every 10 minutes or so. By the time the queue inched along I reached EU UK Frontier Passport inspection only at 00.25. There were a thousand or so people waiting in the queue for passport control where 7 out of 15 desks were manned. There were no special inspections there was just too few officials to deal with the numbers. I went to the office overlooking the throngs queuing to complain where I was handed a form instructing me how to complain and they told me 200 people had complained that evening. Their bosses were not there to see the queues. I said surely they can examine timetables but they made no comment. Entering the baggage reclaim areas, carousels were overflowing with luggage since the luggage was arriving one hour before the passengers! I have arrived at Stansted a few moths before at 18.00 and there was no problem.

Stansted Airport review by Jack Sheldon

18 September 2007  Customer Rating :

Departures, about 20 minutes wait for security. Boarding card control a shambles as only certain doors into security can "validate" (whatever that means) internet boarding cards. Security is illogical, once you've gone through it and think it's all over, you have a second line where you have to do the shoe carnival. Why don't you do the shoe carnival at main security and have the staff doing the shoe carnival available for main security (possibly allowing an extra security line to open)? Also, does anyone know why they have finger docks at Stansted? At the bit of the terminal I was at, all the aircraft were disconnected from the finger docks and all passengers had to go down to the tarmac and climb up stairs into the aircraft. Are they all broken or something?

Stansted Airport review by Maire Leese

10 August 2007  Customer Rating :

Arrived at Stansted 11am 6 August from Lyon. Previously had experienced long delays at Immigration but this time - despite being horrendously busy - was well organised and every desk for once manned. BAA staff at back of the small hall were directing staff to quicker queues and presumably Immigration managers in front of the desks directing people from both sides of queue barriers to quickest lines. Seemed very efficient and friendly. Commented to officer who checked my passport who said he'd been drafted in from another location to assist. Clearly made all the difference from my previous visits. Well done but shame airport still filthy dirty and toilets in baggage hall a disgrace.

Stansted Airport review by G Seiler

19 July 2007  Customer Rating :

What a weekend - got delayed by 1.5 hours on Friday lunchtime departing to Venice because of the on goin security nightmare - if we really need this much security lets get rid of all those shops that make BAA a huge profit and put it to better use getting the paying customers to their planes quicker, safer and less stressed. And lets face it all of us fare paying passengers have already paid a huge privilege to BAA to use the airport - do we really need to be fleeced more than once. Its not like any of the shops are offering any great savings over the high street these days. Then coming back last night we had to suffer over a 1 hour wait to get anywhere near the customs and immigration desks after our plane landed. They had signs up to expect delays because of new procedures but to be honest I would have thought at 12:30 at night it would be running smoothly, but here we were with each desk taking about a minute to process one person (at this rate the 3 or 4 737 loads of people at this time of night nearly completely crippled it) - do they operate this system during the rush hour?? what are they thinking? Or is this a way to get more car parking revenue out of the people waiting to collect them.

Stansted Airport review by Trevor Harvey

30 June 2007  Customer Rating :

For the first time for a long time I picked someone up at Stansted and went to the '15 minute pick up point' as arranged. In the past this was free and the signing implies, I suggest, that this continues to be the case. On arrival at the exit barrier I found that I would need to pay a £1 to get out. In the event and with cars queuing behind me I was able to pay at the barrier with a credit card. Without the Credit Card, I would have had to find a place to park and then go to a pay station to pay my £1. What money grabbing nonsense.

Stansted Airport review by Mark Davis

22 June 2007  Customer Rating :

I have the same views as all the other recent STN users, it was a great place to fly from but now its a typically joke - apparently the Chip readers at the "border control" are very slow. But my biggest worry is that now BAA are owned by a Spanish Company is the investment/capital is on hold? At least they have got rid of the "students" who kept people queuing before security asking about liquids and gels! Its a national disgrace but what are BAA going to do - nothing! What choice do we have?

Stansted Airport review by Anthony McElligott

20 June 2007  Customer Rating :

I would like to add my voice to the complaints. In addition to a very bad experience flying Ryanair - over two hours delay - the arrival at Stansted on June 15/16th was a scandal. Close to one o'clock in the morning and passengers were being corralled in the corridors before even getting to the actual arrivals hall. There the scene was almost biblical - crowds of weary passengers - many families with small children and elderly - all being treated to the customary British welcome at 'UK Border'. The deployment of a large contingent of armed police had nothing to do with 'fighting terrorism' but everything to do with intimidating the public into passivity. The process took around 40-50 minutes between disembarking and exiting the airport. British airports have now become the blackspots of European and inter-continental travel. Immigration staff at Stansted that evening/early morning clearly were out of their depth. But for passengers the experience was much worse. This is a national scandal, and those responsible should be held to account for their shambolic mismanagement. All in all, flying through Britain is a dispiriting experience, the security staff are increasingly rude, the environment is stuffy, and really very dirty (just look at those seats at Heathrow Terminal 1 departing for Ireland and the Channel Islands, or at Stansted - ugh!!

Stansted Airport review by Robert Przemioslo

20 June 2007  Customer Rating :

Stansted airport treats passengers with contempt. A month ago I thought it must be unusually busy whilst waiting for 80 minutes in a non air conditioned tunnel to be allowed through to join the chaos in front of the passport control. No priority for the aged or those with young children. No organised line queues so survival of the fittest attitudes everywhere. Same thing happened last night, 60 minutes so I got to Bristol at 5am! The airport cant cope so why plan to expand? Cut the flight numbers so the infrastructure available can cope, or is it that income might suffer?

Stansted Airport review by A Briggs

14 June 2007  Customer Rating :

The immigration shambles is certainly not a Sunday night special. Returning on Ryanair in the hour before midnight on Saturday is reason for the deepest gloom when you find you can barely get out of the transit train (only one carriage of which runs: is this another attempt to cause the crowds to accumulate somewhere else ?) for the crush of people trying to get through immigration before having to show up for work on Monday. Three of four non-EU passport desks were unmanned; and even though all the EU ones were staffed, there is nowhere near the right number of them. The terrible crowding has to be seen to be believed. Does anyone care ? Is anyone listening ? Could someone get rid of the tawdry, shabby, shops (especially those thieving ones which sell water at the price of wine) and open up a sensible number of immigration counters, so that we can come home without this stress ? Perhaps we should stop being so stoical about it and storm through. If there is shabbier treatment to be found anywhere in Europe (but Heathrow doesn't count), I have yet to see it.

Stansted Airport review by John Oram

14June 2007  Customer Rating :

One word - appalling. Arrived back from LAS to all the bad things I expected. Immigration queues remain scandalous. The queues were badly managed today and I have been told that a 'snake system' is due to be introduced in July. Such a system is already in use for the Rest of the World lines (at STN). Also promised is an expanded immigration hall, due 2008 and probably already late as they have not got past the foundations. It is unclear whether there will be enough immigration officers on sensible rosters to take advantage of a larger hall. Landside was no better. The queue in WHS where I was gasping for a bottle of water was being reduced only slowly by two cashiers who seemed entirely unfamiliar with their tills not to say many of the products passing through their hands.

Stansted Airport review by Al Strachan

6 June 2007  Customer Rating :

London Stansted: It's not just Sunday nights. Even at mid-day when a few flights arrive together there is chaos at immigration. People really should take photos of the queues in areas where photography is not specifically prohibited and expose this disgraceful situation. Should not be problematic taking photos because the queues go a long way back and well away from the immigration area. The immigration shambles at STN really needs to be addressed immediately.

Stansted Airport review by John Oram

6 June 2007  Customer Rating :

Stansted is an airport in decline, moodily failing to put itself out to help the customer. I spent some time in the terminal prior to flying the next day and it does not bear close examination. I should say I was staying in the Radisson and not sleeping in the terminal - just looking at it with a critical eye. I have made several recent visits both to travel and to see off. For one thing, it is looking quite grubby. A number of information TVs have been moved or decommissioned and I can only imagine that this is a surly effort at crowd control. The post box has been sealed although it is not clear whether at the behest of the Post Office or our paranoid security forces.

Stansted Airport review by Brian Crofts

22 May 2007   Customer Rating :

Much improved on departure, but the same chaotic scenes greeting Sunday night arrivals. Hundreds of people backed up in a corridor waiting for passport control. The security man controlling the front of the queue said that a 'serious incident' had occurred, but there were no tannoy announcements and no explanation as to why this is always the case at Stansted on Sunday evenings. Once again many people missed last trains and buses.

Stansted Airport review by David Phillips

2 May 2007   Customer Rating :

I was also caught up in the utter chaos at Stansted 'Airport' on Sunday 29 April 2007 at 23:45 when it took some 90 minutes to disembark from the plane to get through Passport control. Initially we sat on the plane for about 15 minutes after we arrived 'nearly' at the gate before the airport could find someone to guide the pilot on to his precise station. We then had to walk along hundreds of yards of corridor - up and down non working escalators to arrive at the back of a queue of several hundred exhausted and angry customers. There was never any explanation of what was happening from anyone in authority, neither were there any toilets, or seats or any form of assistance for elderly or disable passengers. The Passport Control area was sheer and utter chaos and the dozen or so Immigration Officials seemed as bored by the whole nightmare as the customers seemed angry. An announcement over the tannoy system brought some light humour when passengers were requested not to take photographs of the queues - at which point nearly everyone got out their cameras and did just that ! Let us hope that those people work for National Newspapers or the like - it needs publicity of this sort to make the Airport Authorities sit up and take notice of what is going on. At Baggage Reclaim luggage was strewn over the entire floor area and many passengers seemed convinced that their bags had been stolen. Having found our own bags we then proceeded to the long stay bus queue and had to wait a further 20 minutes at 01:00am for the bus to the Pink Elephant parking area. Considering the ridiculously high charges that are charged for car parking by this company we really felt that a few more buses timed to coincide with the arrival of aircraft would be useful. The management of this Airport should be thoroughly and utterly ashamed of their performance and should be offering compensation to their customers. How can it take as long to get from the plane to the car park as it took to get from Rome to England ?

Stansted Airport review by Liz Partridge

1 May 2007   Customer Rating :

Stansted Airport 11.45pm on Sunday 29th April 2007. One hour from plane touching down to reach passport control desk. No explanation from anyone about delays. Hundreds of passengers caught in corridors with no seats or toilet facilities. No-one to advise or assist us. Children, elderly and disabled people all kept in same queue. When I eventually found a member of BAA's staff she blamed delays on Passport & Immigration service. 12 passport staff on duty - not all desks were staffed. No apologies. Suitcases had been taken off the baggage carousels and strewn on the floor - no security for bags, anyone could have taken them. People missing trains and coaches because of delay. Please be warned - Stansted is a nightmare at your journey's end. Be prepared or travel to another airport.

Stansted Airport review by Mandy King

25 April 2007   Customer Rating :

My very first experience of Stansted and it took 90 minutes to clear immigration at arrivals - the worst I've ever encountered anywhere (and I don't consider myself an occasional traveller). Not only that, but when I asked the immigration clerk dealing with me if this was unusual he told me that it was always like this - or worse - every Sun and Thursday evening! The airport authority really needs to get this sorted, by either adjusting flight landing times or improving the infrastructure to support the amount of slots it sells - at the times it sells them for. I'm returning to Stansted again on Thursday in a few weeks time at the end of a holiday and am now dreading the experience - having been told long queues are the norm! I've never had these problems with EasyJet at Gatwick - I will avoid Stansted like the plague in the future.

Stansted Airport review by W Humphreys

24 April 2007   Customer Rating :

Truly awful experience. Rude security staff, ultra-slow check-in. A complete nightmare. Pay the extra, don't travel Ryan air, and don't go through Stansted if you want to arrive at your destination with your sanity intact.

Stansted Airport review by François Girardin

24 April 2007   Customer Rating :

Stansted airport passport area is a disgrace, if your plane arrive after 11pm then you have to queue for more than one hour, it is the 3rd time this month that happen to me, but yesterday we have to wait for 120 minutes before to be able to reach the desk of immigration to be confronted with officer that obviously were not concerned. The waiting have to be done in the tunnel leading from the plane with no proper ventilation for this kind of crowd. it's a shame, and accident waiting to happen and for no proper reason realy, it will be easy to double the line of controller. The attitude of the immigration and their management is a shame.

Stansted Airport review by Rosemary Saunders

24 April 2007   Customer Rating :

I arrived at Stansted last night at 11:30 from Venice and it was pandemonium in the passport control area! More and more train loads of passengers were arriving with nowhere to go making it was a health and safety nightmare. I had been standing in the scrum for at least ten minutes before a sudden influx of what I think was immigration control staff seemed to appear from somewhere or other, I suggest they keep a closer eye on the arrivals board. It finally took one hour and ten minutes to get through by which time the luggage from my flight was being offloaded into a pile on the floor to make room for the next flight's baggage! When I first started to use Stansted about three years ago I was most impressed, it was far superior to Gatwick or Heathrow but there has most certainly been a decline in service. All but three of the desks were open so although that would have eased things slightly it wouldn't have solved the problem. Stansted is obviously taking on the business without investing in the infra-structure to cope with it. Come on Stansted, you can do better than this!

Stansted Airport review by Alan Reeves

20 April 2007   Customer Rating :

Where's the button for negative stars? Stansted Airport is not just the worst-designed airport in the world, it also has the slowest and most badly-planned Passport Control area. Last night (11-04-07) when 4 fully- laden aircraft arrived just before midnight, the four members of staff on duty did nothing to rise to the challenge - if anything, they went on a go-slow. It shouldn't take more than 5 seconds to check a passport, but from what I could see, the staff were taking between 1 and 2 minutes for each person - even children. After half an hour, trains were arriving and there was no room for passengers to get off into the waiting area. If there had been a fire, there would have been a major disaster - people were packed like sardines and close to rioting. I always thought that the Police armed with machine guns were there to prevent acts of terrorism, but I now believe that they are there to protect the Passport Control staff from being lynched by irate passengers! I was travelling with my two young daughters, who were very tired and frightened by the crowds, and when it came to our turn, the lady at the desk insisted that we approach one at a time! Naturally, I refused - insisting that we stay together, and to her credit, she backed down. These delays are totally unacceptable - especially since everyone on the flight had already had their passports checked at least three times at the other end - and I can certify that nobody got on or off the aircraft on the journey! On previous occasions, I have missed rail connections because of delays at Stansted's Passport Control, adding as much as 8 hours to my onward journey, but at least last night, I only had to pay for an extra day's stay at the ripoff carpark!

Stansted Airport review by B Harris

24 March 2007   Customer Rating :

I travel through Stansted at least once a month, midweek on Ryan early flights out and late flights back. After the chaos of the summer it was a relief in November to find everything staffed up properly on departures. (10 minutes from drop off to breakfasting air side). Coming back is a different story. The chances are you join the scrum trying to get into the passport control area. Surely they know there's a whole line of planes landing in the late evening? And to add insult to injury, BAA now charges all cars a "Parking fee" just to drive through and pick up passengers from arrivals.

Stansted Airport review by V Thomas

20 March 2007   Customer Rating :

I flew with Ryanair at the weekend from Stansted and found it utterly chaotic and complete pandemonium both going out and returning. We nearly missed our flight going out due to the huge queues to get through security and complete lack of organisation, information or any sense of urgency from the airport staff. Returning late Sunday night, we landed 15 minutes early - great, we thought! But no, on entering the airport we were shuttled like cattle up some stairs (feeling very sorry for people with young children and elderly passengers..) to find dense crowds waiting to go through passport control. Absolute mayhem, no organisation or information (again!) and quite unfriendly staff (scattered thinly though they were). I would not chose to fly from Stansted again - it was horrendous. Not to mention the overflowing bins and general dirt in the airport. An embarassment if this is the first experience foreigners have of England.

Stansted Airport review by Keith Jewitt

20 March 2007   Customer Rating :

The speed of service at Stansted in general is poor but the Passport control area is little short of a national disgrace. I can honestly say I dread using Stansted!!

Stansted Airport review by John Oram

7 March 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

STN certainly is making the effort. Early in the morning it copes very well with the first wave of low cost flights and everything is open for the passengers. Security, Frankie & Bennies, W H Smith all working fine. On the return, the immigration hall is still a disgrace. It won't be expanded, I understand, until 2008. As one member of staff said to me, it doesn't make money so that's why it's the last bit of the terminal to be upgraded. BAA must understand, they can not have passengers exiting the transit straight into the back of the immigration lines.

Stansted Airport review by A Coogans

19 February 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

Stansted is much busier these days, and I would go as far as to say its starting to burst at the seams. Security queues for a midweek February afternoon were very long. Ryanair check in was efficient and the shops the usual airport mixture. A lack of landside seating (didn't manage to sit airside as security queue nearly made me miss flight) in the winter suggests summer may be chaotic. Still a good airport but I wonder for how much longer.

Stansted Airport review by Daren Stubbs

13 February 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

Walk to luggage handling was very long. Queues to get through passport control very long on the way back. Once inside airport cafes and bars seemed good. Long walk to car rental place also.

Stansted Airport review by Andrew Orme

7 February 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

Recently used Stansted for the first time. Toilets will disgusting, overflowing and floor covered in water. Check-in facilities were good. Long queues at immigration on return, had to queue for 45 minutes in non-eu passport queue before being seen. EU passport queue also very long, 15-20 minutes before people processed. Would only use Stansted again if price of flights forced me too.

Stansted Airport review by Chris Drabwell
7 February 2007

I arrived from Rome last night, the walk from the gate was extremely long and was then made worse by arriving at a sea of people, literally hundreds in a mass trying to get through to immigration. Yes all desks were manned but for me it took 50 mins to get to one! This dire situation is made worse by lack of a proper queue system, IE roped off areas. In fact I think it was quiet dangerous as any surge in the crowd could have led to injuries I am sure. Towards the end people were losing patience and almost fighting. I also noticed that I unluckily got in a "bad" queue where the clerk was slow. I compared to the tune of her doing one person and the clerk next to her doing three people in the same amount of time! Sickening, disgraceful and third world way of dealing with things. Yes there are notices saying that new procedures will cause slight delays they say slight ,is more like severe delays. Get a grip and add more clerks, get a proper queue system.

Stansted Airport review by David Sharpe
29 January 2007

As a regular traveller through Stansted I can detect a significant deterioration in the general service quality through the airport. Parking charges have increased whilst more space has been allocated to so-called 'Business Parking' which is simply an excuse to charge even more for the same parking facilities. The tunnels and pathways leading into the terminal building are dirty and strewn with litter and abandoned trolleys. The time taken to get checked baggage from the aircraft to a baggage belt is increasing and unacceptable. The time taken to clear Immigration and the general traffic handling in the immigration area is deteriorating rapidly. Yesterday I arrived back from Geneva and upon leaving the transfer transit was faced with a wall of people waiting to get to the immigration desks. There was no queuing system and the only information was one man literally shouting at customers in English telling them not to go towards the 'Other' queue (as opposed to the EU queue) otherwise "you will be sent back". In a very unpleasant atmosphere it took me 45 minutes to reach an immigration clerk.

Stansted Airport review by John Oram
21 January 2007

Comments have to be balanced to reflect the mixed bag of experiences you have there. I was extremely impressed by the valet parking. Service in and out was very good. I think that they have addressed criticisms about security. It was a bit difficult to tell because I went through Fast Track but it looked alright. They have one up on LGW which closed its Fast Track presumably to be able to cope elsewhere. On my return from LAS the air jetty was not working and there had been plenty of time and capacity to direct us to another gate. I was not pleased and neither were Maxjet. Immigration another mixed bag. They were fully manned which was very impressive but I was annoyed at having to remove my passport from a cover which does not hinder access to the machine read page. I received some muttered and implausible explanation about needing to be able to feel the back of the passport. There is so much swiping at both ends these days that passports of frequent travellers are not easily going to survive 10 years. Collection of my car was joyfully easy and it was returned by a charming employee.

Stansted Airport review by K Nunes
19 January 2007

I used Stansted for the first time to travel to Gothenburg, Sweden, and was very impressed. Being a student, I found the only way to get to Stansted in time for my 7am flight was to arrive at 11:55pm the night before on a bus from Heathrow, so I had to wait for hours in the terminal, but the experience was enjoyable. The few shops and bars that remained open throughout the night contained very friendly staff, the terminal itself was very quiet and peaceful, many other studenty types were sleeping on the floor as myself and my mate were, with no problems. Security with guns were patrolling the terminal which was brilliant as we all felt safe within the airport. Check-in time came at about 4am, we were among the first to check-in, which took a few minutes, so we just went straight through to security which took another few minutes (optional shoe scanning machines made me laugh, I put my shoes in just so they felt loved), and then through to the shops etc. I was impressed with the speed of security, especially for a Saturday morning flight at the normal "rush hour" for airports. Things were a little busy on the other side, it seemed everyone in the airport had the same idea, the whole world and his wife had joined me in the bar to have a cigarette. But not to worry. There was enough airside to keep us all occupied. Managed to get to my gate before most other people too, and were the first to board (after children etc as Ryanair promises). Return was a Sunday afternoon, I accept that the immigrations were very busy, the queue was disgustingly long people-wise but smoothly flowing time-wise, so I wasn't bothered at all. Didn't have any luggage to pick up so no complaints about the waiting times there.

Stansted Airport review by Tom Neuhaus
31 December 2006

I use STN about once a month and so far it has served me fine. I don't know whether I would want to navigate it as anything other than a single traveller though. Check-in queues vary by airline as does efficiency of boarding procedure. Security queues are long, it has never taken me much more than half an hour to go through security. Shopping and catering seems adequate. Immigration queues vary, but can be long and not very well controlled.

Stansted Airport review by M Talbot
25 November 2006

Why cant it always be this good?! Early morning departure from STN on November 19th, arrived at 5am and the check in took less than 1 minute, yes 1 minute! Also, the time taken to get through security was great, less than 5 minutes. At last more than 2 or 3 x-ray machines are being operated. At least 10 of the 14 check points were operating this time (perhaps thanks to Ryanair's intervention and frustrations?). This left plenty of time to get something to eat and get to the gate on time. Returned to STN late evening of the November 21st to find no queues at the passport control and our bags were on the belt after about 10 minutes. STN was clean and the staff even smiled and said thank you. After reading other comments here, maybe I was lucky with STN during my journey, but all in all it was good this time.

Stansted Airport review by Rakesh Panchal
5 November 2006

Yesterday I returned to Stansted Airport from Seville, having travelled Ryanair. The flight arrived at 2345 and the immigration arrivals hall was full of British and European passengers waiting to pass passport control - at least 300+ people I would say. They had 5 immigration desks open and it took almost 25 minutes to get through. My two colleagues who have Malaysian passports had a less than 10min wait in the International Passports queue and were swiftly in the baggage reclaim area. What used to be a quick show of the passport has been a farce at Stansted airport. It should have a separate queue for British Citizens and Other European passengers. The whole process needs to be streamlined and fast-tracked. Making your own citizens wait longer than is required is unacceptable. Many fellow Brits were complaining. This definitely needs sorting, especially seen as the bulk of Stansted's passengers are from the European Union!

Stansted Airport review by Debbie Smith
5 November 2006

What chaos at Stansted airport. I have travelled from there frequently for some years. However today myself and my daughter missed our flight, due to stringent security measures that the staff seem unable to cope with. the queues were almost out of the doors. I shall certainly be thinking of alternative travel arrangements for the future.

Stansted Airport review by Yvonne Levicki
2 November 2006

With the new system, I am completely lost every time I go to Stansted Airport for parking on site at the terminal. Tonight, I was dropping off my niece and I drove into the fast-track parking with the intention to stop only 2 minutes. When I put my ticket in to get out, I was asked to pay £14.00. What does fast-track mean ? Why has Stansted become such an unfriendly place that drivers do not know where to go and to add to the unfriendliness, we have to pay such high price. I am so angry and would like to hear from managers. It has become a nightmare coming to Stansted.

Stansted Airport review by Andrew Bennett
2 November 2006

Security queues during half term week were ridiculous - as were the attitudes of a few staff. If some can do their job with a smile and please and thank you, why can't managers make sure they all perform to that level? After all, they are still supposed to be providing a public service. And why the shoe x-ray? If a chain is as strong as its weakest link, there seems little point in imposing all these measures at STN (or other BAA hubs) when nothing like the same rigour is applied on connecting routes through other airports. Time for a bit of common sense, I think - the risk of terrorism is much less than that of being injured, maimed or killed in a car crash on the way to the airport, so let's forget all this pandering to the self-indulgent thrill of fear and tell people who are scared not to fly, so that the rest of us can get on with the necessities of travel in sensible conditions.

Stansted Airport review by Nathan Fotheringill
7 October 2006

Passed through STN en-route from Prestwick to Carcasonne. My main worry was that the bags would take a while to reappear as they needed to be checked in for the onward leg (Ryanair don't do connecting flights) but after having had problems in the past, the bags appeared promptly on the belt. Checking in for the flight to Prestwick was a little frustrating - Ryanair state that Stansted check-ins open three hours prior to departure and sure enough the appropriate desk appeared on the monitors at that time. The desk itself, though, was unmanned for a good half hour after that time. Security was negotiated within fifteen minutes or so and at least there are plenty of shops 'airside' to help pass the time before heading off to your gate. What the departure lounge could do with, though, is a larger departure information board visible from all parts of the lounge. The current monitors are a bit past it and difficult to read even if you are standing right in front of them. The Ryanair seqenced boarding worked well at the international gates with barriers up guiding people resulting in less of a scrum to board the aircraft. At the domestic gate, however, there were no barriers and the usual scrum ensued with those in the 91-189 sequence getting in the way of the pre-boarders and those with the 1-90 numbers on their boarding cards.

Stansted Airport review by Richard Broden
7 October 2006

On all three occasions over the past 45 days I experienced what could only be called as 'total frustration' at Stansted's inability to get passengers through security in under 2 hours. I am closer to this airport and would like to use it more but am dissuaded from because of under-staffing in security.

Stansted Airport review by Bryan Vickerstaff
7 October 2006

All the previous glowing remarks about Stansted are from people with impaired vision or who don't know better. Going through security before embarking is worse that queuing at a rugby match and then you find half of the scanner machines are off, no staff to operate them. The next hi- lite is charging through the lounge area to make the flight which is leaving from gate 50 - because it has just taken 90 minutes to go through the security ritual. On returning to Stansted on any late or delayed flights and it's after 24H00 you can't use the back door of the aircraft because all staff go home - stuff the travellers and some escalators are switched off to make the obstacle course more exciting, but at passport control you join the mele. What training did the airport manager ever have.

Stansted Airport review by Douglas Low
7 October 2006

Joined a very long line of people queuing to get through Security for more than 1hr 40 minutes on Sunday 22nd October. This is an absolute joke. There is no time to get something to eat or drink, no time to use the toilets. Once through the security section which is way too small and slow for the number of passengers now flying to Stansted you have to run for your plane - if it is still there! This is a major embarrassment for the UK and the region - what must our visitors think. It is the only airport I know of where the queue for security takes longer than your flight - in may case Munich, which is an hour and a half. BAA and Stansted airport should be ashamed of themselves. Get it sorted Stansted.

Stansted Airport review by Ruth Hopkins
7 October 2006

In recent weeks I've travelled from London Heathrow, Luton, Gatwick and Stansted. Only at Stansted have I experienced such delays at check-in, security and access to the long-stay car-park. Surely the recent increase in security isn't the reason for queues for the car-park buses? Outgoing travellers (as at 12.10.06) are required to remove shoes for scanning in addition to the other usual checks. Of course, the carpet is dirty. Everyone understands the need for security, so why is Stansted in such chaos - and this was before the schools' half-term holiday? On the return journey from touch-down to leaving the car-park took longer than our journey from the airport to beyond Peterborough. Even the cafe service in departures was the slowest I've ever experienced in an airport!