Belfast Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Consider alternatives and proceed with caution: Belfast International Airport despite being 30 minutes outside Belfast and being more UK based than International has in the past been efficient if not outstanding for travelling. The continued overcharging compared to over airports: drop off charges, charges for plastic bags, priority queues has been noted by others. However what is worse for me is the abhorrent security staff. Security continue to behave in an erractic manner going from unprofessional to overly autocratic at a whim whilst at all times maintaining disdain for passengers passing through airport security. On my last departure going through airport security I experienced the worst: bad attitudes, poor customer service and unchallenged xenophobic views. With options for better airports for departure at: Belfast City Airport (closer to actual Belfast!) and Dublin as well if travelling internationally I would advise anyone to consider if an alternative airport for departure would work better. If sadly not I suggest proceed with caution and be prepared and forewarned.

✅ Trip Verified | I passed through Belfast International on my way to board an Easyjet flight to Gatwick on 28 December. I tried to buy a sandwich in Boots and WH Smith but their shelves were bare. Later I went into Lagardere Travel Retail UK and selected a pack of crisps for purchase. At the paypoint I was asked to produce my boarding pass which I declined to do pointing out I was not legally bound to do. The checkout lady refused to serve me and removed the crisps from the counter. To avoid any hassle and having to walk back to Boots or WH Smith, I decided to show my boarding pass. HM Revenue and Customs has said there is no legal requirement to to hand your boarding pass over at the checkout. I have never had a problem at Boots or WH Smith in Gatwick Airport. Otherwise I was very satisfied with the airport facilities other than having to descent several flights of stairs to ground level and then a long walk to the aircraft.

Not Verified | I've suffered at the hands of this airport before. We have been promised improvements but they are just empty words. Horrendous queues at security. Unhelpful staff. This must be the worst airport in Europe. Action needs to be taken immediately.

Not Verified | So 2 days in the last week and a half I’ve been in Belfast Int’l to both drop off and pick up friends and relatives. On dropping off it was very early so I decided to have a coffee and breakfast in the terminal. When picking up I'd arrived early and the flight was delayed enough to force me to pass the time (coffee again). Arrivals is still something of an embarrassment. It’s not particularly grubby or run down exactly, but I does feel a bit unloved and very very dated. Where you sit waiting you can easily see the baggage carousel areas. There was an issue with the flight that arrived about the same time as my friends and there were no staff at all on hand to help answer questions for the passengers. This had the knock-on on my friend’s experience as the baggage collection gets quite congested with even just the 2 full flights of people collecting their bags at the same time. The bigger issue though was on dropping my relative off for an early morning flight. We arrived in good time as it is now fairly common knowledge that security at Belfast Int’l is a major stumbling point, both as an experience due to extremely rude staff and as a service in terms of it taking vastly too long to get through. Over the Summer Twitter was awash with photos of queues out of the security hall, down the corridor, the stairs down to the baggage hall and along the full length of the hall to the very back wall! This represented a queuing time of several hours, just to get into the security hall at all, basically the full amount of time passengers are recommended to arrive at the airport by. Luckily this was not quite the case on this day, but on leaving I was able to see the back of the queue to get into the security hall as its visible near one of the main entrances/exits. So I called and my relative told me that she was in the security hall but only just, this after I had only left her after bag drop and gone and had breakfast. So this was one of the first flights out on the day and she wasn’t going to be time rich despite us arriving a good bit before the recommended arrival/check in time. Belfast Int’l isn’t all that bad of an airport, yes it needs a little love here and there but security, security is so unimaginably bad it’s ruining the whole transit process through the facility. Management have swapped to new providers for security as announced on their social media and web site a few months ago. I’m not sure if the new company is in place yet but I hope not, because if this is the new company the only thing that has changed is the logo on the uniform of the staff member taking too long to be rude to you while you try to get airside! The standards in the food outlets and their prices, well that's another problem for another day!

Not Verified | Still the worst. This is my third review in a few weeks. Monday morning - not the earliest flights when crowds are normal everywhere - and it’s a long slow line to security. Two security lines not in operation. What was the rubbish in the news about improvements?

Not Verified | I can't believe how bad this airport is. The security process is painfully slow. The public areas are scruffy. The staff - particularly at security - have a serious attitude problem. Have they never heard of customer service? Never again!

Not Verified | I can't believe how bad this airport is. How can they get away with it? Unhelpful staff, poor facilities, but above all a massive queue at security. Why? Other airports do so much better. I spoke to some other passengers who told me there have been problems getting through security for years. Sounds like a case of poor management. I certainly won't use this airport again.

Not Verified | Terrible queue at security. I don't need special assistance but I felt very unwell by the time I got through. No one cares. It is shameful. Why aren't those running the airport held to account? I would recommend anyone who is not able to queue for a long time to avoid this airport. Individual safety is the priority.

Not Verified | Avoid like the plague! Huge queue at security. Unfriendly, rude staff. What ever happened to customer service? How hard can it be? Other airports manage.

Not Verified | I've used this airport for many years. It's not clean. The toilets are not up to standard, and the time taken to clear security is laughable. When I complained I was told that the security problems were being dealt with. But there have been excessive delays for a number of years.