London Stansted Airport Passenger Reviews and Stansted Airport Traveller Reports

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London Stansted Airport customer review :  27 August 2010 by Peter Cullen   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

When departing you need to arrive well before your flight; I queued about 30 minutes at check- in (Ryanair) and 15 for security. Staff were cheerful and helpful but seemed to think this was fairly normal for a midweek morning in summer. Once in the departures area there is a choice of food and shopping, all standard major airport fare. A long walk to the gate, but plenty of time was given and seating was available at the gate. On return, the queue for passport control was enormous (20 minutes wait), no apology or reason given (sheer pressure of numbers I assume). Luggage was already on the belt when I got there (not difficult given the wait at the passport control). The bus from and to the long-stay car park was pretty efficient, though you must note the stop you use when you arrive (some 'letter' areas have two stops and colour codes are also used) - if not you will be wandering about for hours! We did get the right one, but it was more by luck than judgement.

London Stansted Airport customer review :  23 August 2010 by John Walsh   (Ireland)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Security queue is a disaster area, leave plenty of time to get through this overcrowded and understaffed airport. It took me 40 minutes on a Thursday evening, and when I raised the matter with management I was told that the average queuing time is 10 minutes. Not my average!

London Stansted Airport customer review :  8 July 2010 by M Frari   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Considering its an airport for budget airlines, Stansted is very good. Good range of shops, eating places, from burgers to pubs and asian take away. Its best to arrive earlier than normal, as check-in queues are very long, and security can take well over an hour to clear. If you're traveling with Easyjet you get the train/transport to your gate, if you're traveling with Ryanair, you have to walk, and its a very long walk (up to 30 mins). On arrival, passport control can take an eon to get through.

London Stansted Airport customer review :  7 March 2010 by I Andrews   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Shopping and eating wise the airport is quite good with a wide variety of shops and eating places as well as the world duty free shops. Luggage seems to take ages to arrive even at off peak times and the passport control and security check also can take a long time. but what I will say is that in my travels through this airport the staff both on the security and the passport control area's have been nothing but friendly and well mannered as well as being capable of coping with irate passengers who never seem to allow enough time for the added security checks. Car parking at the airport is well managed and efficient.

London Stansted Airport customer review :  26 October 2009 by S Adders   (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Staff seem overwhelmed when there are long queues at passport control. It's just a free for all. Maybe put up a line like they do at security and most US airports so you don't have to keep getting bumped from every direction for half an hour. Otherwise it's a good enough airport as UK airports go.

STANSTED AIRPORT review :  10 October 2009 by Roger Peters   (UK)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Stansted is convenient to reach, modern design, good shopping and eating. Drawbacks - try are arrive early to check in, security can be slow. Departure area can be crowded. The airport is in need of expansion.

STANSTED AIRPORT review :  21 August 2009 by A Azariah   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

I arrived Stansted late Saturday evening from Ibiza. Upon arrival at the airport travellers had to go up and down two separate flights of stairs before reaching immigration. When I did reach the desk the queues were short, and more desks were opening, but I was met with an extremely rude officer. Why do they believe in making UK residents feel unwelcome back into their own country? This is one of the worst airports for this and I will be complaining (not that it will improve matters) and avoiding this airport like the plague in future!

STANSTED AIRPORT review :  12 August 2009 by R Hopkins   (UK)

Customer Rating :  2/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

The arrival of planes at Stansted always seems to come as a surprise to its staff and operations. Do they not realise that some of those passengers they seem to dispatch reasonably well actually want to return? It's at this point I regret not driving the extra two hours to Gatwick. Yesterday evening it took 1hr.25 mins. to get from leaving the plane to leaving the car park. I now am convinced that the staff are part of the anti-expansion campaign and really want to prove that there is no capacity to enlarge this airport. Passengers arriving from Madeira yesterday were unable to board the first shuttle which was full. There were the usual ridiculously long and slow passport queues then a scramble for the car park bus after a long wait which was notionally supervised by staff, but with no apparent queue, resulting in a low-cost airline scrum. The over-full bus crawled to the car park, presumably aware it was over-loaded.

STANSTED AIRPORT review :  9 August 2009 by Victor Wong   (Malaysia)

Customer Rating :  1/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Security a total mess, with personnel unclear of weight and number of pieces of hand luggage allowed. Personnel had to radio colleague to ask the weight limit to Kuala Lumpur. One minute it was only ONE piece of hand luggage below 10kg. Next minute, it was one piece hand luggage below 8kg, with small handbag allowed. Was sent away twice for exceeding the weight limit but with a bit of reshuffling of stuff into handbag, managed to get through on third attempt. Felt triumphant like winning some limbo rock contest trying to beat the weight/piece of item limit! No customs counter or officer to stamp tax refund form. Just drop the forms in an unsealed envelope into a hole in the wall. Apparently customs officer will collect and stamp forms without inspecting good. Not sure if my forms will get through. Such agony going through this airport!

STANSTED AIRPORT review :  9 August 2009 by J Bachert   (Germany)

Customer Rating :  3/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Definitely an airport on the brink of it's capacity. Boarding for my flight started 7:10 a.m. at which time the terminal was completely overcrowded. Queuing at the security checks was a 30 minute experience in both directions. The terminal is clean and the toilets are in a rather good condition due to being cleaned around the clock. However the terminal building is very drafty and lacking seating possibilities. Plus, hundreds of people sleep in the terminal building every night, so having Stansted Express leave from Liverpool Street from 3-4 a.m. onwards would be appreciated by many. As I was travelling without luggage I cannot rate the baggage reclaim. The airport has many fast-food restaurants (notably Burger King and Pret) and other shops of which some are open 24/7, plus possibilities to rent cars, book bus connections and of course Stansted Express, which is the fastest means to travel to the City of London (40 mins). As most people flying from Stansted will be doing it with Ryanair, they will not have a very high demand for service and will be perfectly happy with the airport, though.

STANSTED AIRPORT review :  13 July 2009 : by D Piotrak   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Passport control is extremely slow. Yesterday I was queuing more than 1 hour and 20 minutes to get through EU/ British passport holders control - kids crying, poor ventilation, people locked in claustrophobic corridors.

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 5 July 2009 by Adam Farrell

Customer Rating : 3/5

Ryanair to Ciampino recently, was pleased that they opened the security for the lounge at 03:50 which allowed a lovely breakfast airside and then a wander to the satellite for my flight. On returning the same day on the 2345 arrival, the late wave of Ryanairs means that the UK Border check is full of people, and I mean full. Most of the desks were manned and I still had to stand for an hour as more and more people joined the scrum behind us. Very unpleasant surprise and I missed the last Stansted Express as a result. Avoid a late Ryanair into Stansted as the queues are massive!

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 3 July 2009 by J van Marle

Customer Rating : 3/5

Passed through twice recently, and it's much better than my horror experiences here a few years ago (when the queues for security snaked all the way to the main doors). Arrival a breeze with the automated new chip passport readers. Beware the extra bag volume check by hawk-eyed Ryanair salespeople on quotas just before the Ryanair gates. I'd love airports to offer simple changing booths for gents so that I can change from summer wear to UK-compatible clothes or vice versa without standing in a puddle beside a toilet.

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 23 June 2009 by S Blackburn

Customer Rating : 4/5

It's not the best airport in the world but not the worst either. Light and airy with a train station in the basement (and trains which run until 1:30am on a Sunday which I think is reasonable); plenty of shops airside, albeit with a shortage of seating in the main lounge area (fine near the gates); all immigration queues open at 12:30am on a Monday morning - but 20 minute queues nonetheless. The only inexcusable error was a lack of open lanes for security on departure. Stansted Express is great with the Victoria line from Tottenham taking you into central London very quickly - and at comparable prices to the other London airports. Given the number of people it handles and the nature of its main airline customers (who presumably would be happy if there was no investment in the passenger facing facilities at all), it's fine.

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 6 June 2009 : by Nick Francis

Customer Rating : 5/5

Regarding several comments about transportation costs to and from Stansted, I've been using the EasyBus for a while now and really can't fault it. Book in advance online and the roundtrip from the terminal to Victoria Station or Baker Street only costs about £10. The journey takes an hour, and if you're delayed/early, the team at the desk will transfer your ticket onto the first available bus. Miles cheaper than the Stansted Express, and a much better drop-off. Strangely, easyJet don't seem to advertise the bus on their website, but you can find it on Google. Highly recommended!

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 23 April 2009 : by Nick Paul

Customer Rating : 4/5

Mid-afternoon departure with Turkish Airlines. Transited from easyJet domestic flight. Bags quickly onbelt, straight to onward check in to drop luggage. Option for buying train ticket for onward travel to central London available at bag claim if needed saving buying outside the airport. Arrivals hall busy but plenty of signs for directions of airline desks. No queues at THY check in. Bags dropped. Staff helpful and polite. Used cafe in airport for light meal - not expensive. Range of options available including bars, snack bars and shops for sandwiches / drinks. Other shops are creeping into the departure halls taking more space though. Some current work to upgrade the facilities evident, but not intrusive and the whole place operating well. No delays at security - straight through to departures - wide choice of eating and shopping. Monorail to gate (which is up escalator) for flight. Further options for drinks / snacks in gate area. Except for airline staff attitude at check-in for return flight which is not under the mandate of the airport, this was another good service from a busy airport.

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 17 March 2009 : by M Jerman

Customer Rating : 5/5

I have been using STN now for 4 years and in this four years it has improved from very poor to excellent. I would prefer to use STN over LHR (apart from T5) and over LGW. Security is now a breeze, with many lanes open and never waiting time longer then 15 minutes, even in the busiest times. Both landside and airside have a good variety of retail stores, not as many as LGW or LHR but at the end of the day it is a low cost airport. Satellite 1 and 2 are connected by a train so no need for a long walk and if you are flying on FR walking times are not any longer then at LGW when leaving from furthest gates and certainly much shorter then at some other airports (AMS, CDG etc). Airport itself feels very airy, light and refreshingly new. Arrivals have been done up and now the immigration flows quickly especially if you travel on a new passport with the chip as you can use the automated barriers. It is a shame that it is mostly a low cost airport. STN deserves so much more.

STANSTED AIRPORT review : 13 March 2009 : by R Pontida

Customer Rating : 3/5

Nothing especially bad or good about the airport. What I don't like with most London airports is that they're far from the city and transportation costs a lot (and I mean a lot) even when it takes an extremely long time to reach the city centre. This one is no exception. Apart from that, very "low-cost" feeling, not the best airport to wait in, but I had no problems there.