LONDON STANSTED AIRPORT   Passenger Reviews and Customer opinions

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!

Stansted Airport review by Paul Suckling
7 October 2006

Stansted is now imposing a £1 charge to collect arriving passengers from the designated pick up area. The stay is still restricted to 15 minutes, so it is difficult to see why this charge has been imposed, other than as an additional way of ripping off the long suffering passenger. I suspect that many passengers will now arrange to be picked up at the drop off area in front of the terminal, causing further chaos. Should not BAA be trying to encourage use of their airports? This is a small charge, but the principle is infuriating.

Stansted Airport review by Peter Darnell
25 September 2006

Saturday 23rd at midnight was just the same as the previous week. Immigration was completely overstretched, and the 'scrum' extended into the transit shuttle! It took us 2 hours from touch down (on time with Ryan Air) to get to the car in the long stay car park. The baggage took an hour to arrive. We travel regularly on this flight and prior to the latest 'security problem' its always been very reasonable.

Stansted Airport review by Graham Jeffery
16 September 2006

Unbelievable queues the other night going through security control - hopefully this is a blip and won't be repeated once the current jitters settle down. Stansted is beginning to show its age and becoming steadily more and more overcrowded. I agree with comments below about the standard of cleanliness, especially in the gate areas - you only have to look closely and it makes you not want to touch anything. Still, it is a relatively efficient airport, and if you can bear the prices and annoyance of the unreliable Stansted Express a reasonable choice to use in London's general mediocre airport offering.

Stansted Airport review by Steve Ward
16 September 2006

Stansted has suffered with the recent expansion in passenger numbers. It's still a good regional airport, however. Be prepared for longish walks (up to five minutes) and long waits at security (outgoing) and passport control (incoming), but this is no problem if you are reasonably fit and arrive early. Avoid busy times (not easy for holiday travellers) and the queues are much shorter. Parking on site is expensive, but at least the short stay parking is walking distance from the terminal. The departure lounge is a nice environment with plenty of choices of shops and food outlets, but the gate areas have very limited facilities. Note that I travel light so I can't comment on baggage handling. If flying RyanAir, use their online check in facility to avoid the check in queue.

Stansted Airport review by Philippa Carter
6 September 2006

Very impressed with the security handling on the outward journey from Stansted - the staff were thorough, pleasant and hard working to get everyone processed as quickly as possible. That's where the plus points stop. Where ever you looked on the floors, seats, glass, superstructure, handrails, both in the main terminal and departure gates, baggage reclaim the airport was filthy - not just dirty from hard daily usage but filthy from clearly not having been, I doubt, cleaned for weeks if not months! Spillages on carpets are one thing but the amount of surface dirt on top of the carpet at the departure gates was the worst I've ever seen it in all the years I've been a regular user of the airport. The handrails were dirty, the glass hard to see through - it just went on and on. The worst was saved until last - the toilet block in the baggage reclaim area. Women were covering their mouths and noses as they used the litter strewn facility as the smell, humidity and stale air made you gag it was so bad! London's third airport - no way Stansted! I'm sorry but the standard of hygiene and cleanliness I saw on this visit was in my opinion totally unacceptable. The airport is fast becoming a joke.

Stansted Airport review by Cathie Battersby
28 August 2006

The problem with Stansted is that it has outgrown itself. This used to be a great airport a couple of years ago when you could check in quickly. go through security, on to the flight and take off within an hour. Those days have long gone. The airport simply doesn't have the capacity to cope. Particularly on arrivals, the space allocated is woefully inadequate to deal with the amount of arriving passengers. In their usual greed BAA have not placed sufficient limits on the arriving flights, particularly in the period 2200-2400. Arriving at this time at Stansted is not for the faint hearted. It can be a total scrum to get through immigration. In my experience the desks are all open and the staff clearly overstretched to deal with a mass of people in far too small a space. It is a complete disaster. I spoke to one of the officers who said that it's the same every night but BAA simply ignore what;'s going on. If you have a late train to get or folks waiting for you, it can be very frustrating. Also, as befits a "low cost" airport there's never anyone around on arrivals to deal with these problems. BAA seemed to have one person in there on my last arrival, sitting at a desk by a transit while all hell was letting loose in front. Come on BAA, pull your fingers out.

Stansted Airport review by John Oram
10 June 2006

Stansted has impressed for the first time in a while. My trip STN-ALC- STN was marred only by the excessive queuing at immigration on our return. We were in the terminal soon after 0500hrs for the outbound journey and that really was impressive. All the branches of WHS were open with the papers out and obviously had been for a while. The airport was extremely busy but security had lots of lanes open and had clearly responded to previous criticisms. I was unnecessarily stopped to be frisked in spite of being only lightly dressed so I allowed my irritation to dissipate over breakfast. Frankie & Bennys was well and truly open and busy but serving went well. I saw two couples leave together after having waited 15mins but we were served within 5mins and received our food 5 mins later than that. They were working very hard. Closure of the gents toilet for refurbishment meant a queue for the remaining facilities and they wanted people to use the gate toilets. The return journey saw the baggage arrive after the immigration delays so that worked out well.

Stansted Airport review by M Talbot
24 May 2006

As a regular user of this airport, I have mixed experiences depending on the time of departure. Early morning and evening departures appear to have most of the crowds, but mid afternoon departures somehow give the airport a spacious, relaxed feel. The short term parking is not the best value but long term parking balances out. Check in is always quick, however getting through security can be a real stress. At peak times, it would be more helpful to passengers if there were more than 2 or 3 of the 10 x-ray machines operating, thus, reducing the 25 or so minute wait. Other than this, it has a decent selection of shops, restaurants, and the distances to the gates are no more than 10 minutes. Good, but not extraordinary.

Stansted Airport review by Tony Freeburn
15 February 2006

Having used the airport regularly for many years, I would say that it generally provides a good service, especially for departures. However, the recent addition of new handling equipment for bulky luggage, such as sports equipment, is a total disaster. Four of us flew last weekend from Malaga, and waited over 45 minutes for our golf clubs. During this time the new system stopped regularly. AN employee was heard to say "Health & Safety have had far too much input to the design - the safety sensors are far too sensitive, and keep stopping the machine" !!

Stansted Airport review by John Oram
15 January 2006

STN continues to let itself down in niggly ways. Short term car parking is not good value at £20.50 per day and so after paying for 5 days I was less than pleased to find Zone B elaborately coned. I had correctly deduced that BAA were preparing for some refurbishment - and the lines do need repainting - but it was entirely witless of them to cone the exit so tightly that I could not get my Vectra out without moving the cones. One thing they have done right - in response to countless comments on this site and elsewhere - is remodel the security clearance area. About time too.

Stansted Airport review by C Hesse
3 January 2006

Nicely designed airport with good layout to avoid people accumulating on one spot. Hopwever, due to massive passenger increases terminal getting tight now, further room needed. Facilities on site are sufficient and allow for all needs. Efficient monorail system in place.

Stansted Airport review by Mark Burton
28 October 2005

The airport is fine for departures although it can be crowded. Passengers flying into the airport may be frustrated by the time taken for baggage to arrive on the carousel. Travelling into London, it is often better to take the National Express coach service, as it is quick, cheap and regular. The Stansted Express train is slow: doing a 30 mile journey in 45 minutes is not what I'd label an "express" train and currently, at least 1 in 5 trains arrive late.

Stansted Airport review by David Charlesworth
9 August 2005

We must have taken 25 odd flights out of Stansted in the last 12 months and despite it not being the most attractive place it is very functional. However be aware that this airport is designed to keep people moving and is not an experience like Hong Kong or Dubai! Seating is very limitied both before and after security. If you have trouble walking long distances/with stairs you should ask for assistance. The shopping is good in the main terminal, but refreshments are rare in the gate areas. The number of people is truely massive and as such the worst time to travel is the first flights leaving from 6.00am - it can take 20-30 min just to get through security. Flights leaving later have a less crowded experience in the airport. The executive lounge is in an area inaccessable from 70% of the gates, so it is not worth it. Despite all of this we have arrived on average an hour before our flights and not had a problem, when we go back to Oz we will miss it despite its flaws.

Stansted Airport review by Jim Murphy
28 July 2005

I enjoy using Stansted Airport rather than the larger airports (like Heathrow). There is one small terminal building to check-in the baggage and it has an adequate supply of shops for some basic food or magazines etc. They run a monorail to take you to the required boarding gate after your luggage is checked in, so you don't have to walk for miles! The check-in desks are usually very busy, but this is what you would expect from an airport that specialises in cheap flights. I've only flown on UK domestic flights, so don't know what passport control is like. I had one problem when travelling to Belfast and the luggage conveyor belt broke down - only 6 passengers from my flight got their luggage! The staff at Belfast were prepared for this and they took my hotel details and the luggage was delivered by taxi within a couple of hours. The airport parking is much cheaper than Heathrow too and there are 3 different car parks (short stay, medium stay and long stay). The long stay car park is over 2 miles from the terminal building and they run a bus to the terminal. Some people park in Takeley (under 2 miles from terminal) and get a taxi to the airport, but this isn't recommended as the locals get upset if cars are dumped outside their houses for 2 weeks! It's great for picking people up, as the airport is so small and you can park under 1 mile away from the terminal and wait for them to call you when they have their luggage. You can then stop right outside the terminal building within 2 minutes so you don't have to spend a fortune on parking if the plane is delayed. I think Heathrow charges £1.30 per 30 minutes for their short stay parking.

Stansted Airport review by Dave Petch
19 July 2005

I have flown to Stansted several times in the last year and I think that it is a simple airport which caters for the needs of the passengers. To be perfectly honest, budget airlines are the biggest users of the airport, and so if you're paying budget prices for air tickets, you should not expect a posh airport. Stansted does its job, it is a port, that allows for the huge and steady flow of traffic it gets every year.

Stansted Airport review by Cheryl McCormack
8 July 2005

I don't think the airport is as bad as it is made out ! All staff I encountered were very helpful and polite, shopping was great everything I needed was there with plenty of places to eat, all in all i had a pleasant experience and hopefully it will be as good tomorrow when I return to stansted with a 6 hr wait for my next flight.

Stansted Airport review by Andrew Ward

29 June 2005

My first experience of Stansted last week and hopefully the last. Dozy staff who couldn't care less, horrendous queues for passport control (why are all the desks never open?) and over an hour to get baggage. Massively overrated airport which only seems better that Heathrow and Gatwick because they are so dismal. Why don't BAA run shopping malls like Lakeside instead if they can't be bothered to run an airport properly?

Stansted Airport review by Laura Jones

15 June 2005

The airport is really far from Central London. However, no fast connection has been put in place. The Stansted express is slow, totally unreliable and incredibly expensive, £14.50 for a single trip on a train that reminds me of my times in Russia. Last week a train broke down (as usual) and this resulted in many people missing their flights. Stansted express staff were rude and unavailable to help, no one to be held responsible. Absolutely appaling, specially since this happens constantly, trains are cancelled, delayed, etc. Unacceptable, as there is no alternative to travel to the airport by train, no other company, no underground, nothing.

Stansted Airport review by Lawrence McVeigh

8 April 2005

I find the Airport a nice bright place, were in not for the lack of seats I would be able to enjoy it even more. Arriving from early low cost flights and not being able to check-in and pass through the departure lounge I find we are forced to sit around the main entrance area's with a lot of inconsiderate people who insist on taking up two or even three seats with their bags. It's a pity there were no wardens enforcing seating arrangements and telling them to keep their feet off the seats. There are so many East Europeans travelling these day via Stansted. Not that it's a problem, just their lack of consideration to others is a nuisance. Then once you check-in and pass through the security checks you are sometimes confronted with a set of strange individuals who ask you all sorts of dumb questions that have nothing to do with them or security. Questions like "Going on holiday then" no was the reply "I often go to meetings in Europe with short pants and a silly hat". Or the last time was "Going anywhere nice"? No, I said just the transit lounge. I don't expect friendly conversation from security people asking me about my holidays, just get on with your work and check out the security. Security is after all deadly serious these days.

Stansted Airport review by Andrew Taylor

9 March 2005

It seems that none of the ground staff speak any foreign (European languages) - a few seem incapable of English (announcements for the "last and final call" are regularly to be heard). In the last few months immigration controls have become something of a joke. The queues for EU citizens are similar to those of US immigration at Miami. That's probably however more a reflection of HM Government policy rather than the airport. Why can't the UK sign up to Schengen!

Stansted Airport review by Linda Ferguson

20 February 2005

Having previously always travelled to Europe from Gatwick we found our first experience of Stansted wonderful! We refer to it as the 'Stansted Experience' which is so much more pleasant than any other we have encountered. As we moved house from Surrey to Suffolk it was kind of forced on us as the nearest airport, but to be honest we recommend it to anyone, wherever they live! Everything flows and the idea of getting on the monorail train to get you to your departure gate is great. Admittedly we always travel out of season and appreciate it may be different in the high season. Although the long term parking is a way off the airport site, it too is a stress-free experience with regular shuttle buses, door to door.

Stansted Airport review by Matt Ray

18 February 2005

This is probably mostly our fault , but when it said London (albeit Stansted) on our tickets, we assumed it was near London. What a disaster. We took a cab to the airport and over an hour and $100 later we get to a in the middle of nowhere airport where we'd just missed out flight (even though it was still there, we'd missed the time limit) and had to buy another ticket for a fortune. So I hate Stansted. But again, we should have checked that more closely ourselves. But this is not a London airport. It would be like saying Sacramento is a San Francisco airport here in California. Well, yes, it's in the same state I guess!