Bilbao Airport

I agree with some of the post - it is a unwelcoming airport. The seating is really uncomfortable and very few. Sometimes one has to wait quite a while and so need to be able to sit in comfort - these seats are just hard plastic benches. The snack bar is just that. A proper restaurant is sorely needed. Give me the old airport any day. Have not been there for six years but will be doing so in a month's time in the hope there has been some improvement.

Fast and efficient and looks interesting. On arrival bag was on the belt 5 minutes after flight. On departure there was no line at all to drop bag off to go through security to board the plane. When I arrived from London they forgot to stamp my visa for Spain. On departure they fixed it and were polite and apologetic. Small airport clean and efficient.

Bilbao Airport has now a full fledged restaurant besides the bars. Traveling MAN-CDG-BIO often I found this airport by far the best experience of the three. At least it has not become a shopping centre with a runway attached to it.

I have travelled in through this airport and seen many friends come and go. What is all the fuss about? It's a great little airport the staff aren't rude and some do speak English. It's a brilliant airport compared to the huge horrors of Charles De Gaulle and Heathrow. Sometimes I think people just love to moan.

Bilbao airport may be nice on the eye with its exciting-shaped exterior but the interior is dark gloomy and uninviting the seating is poor and uncomfortable the staff are rude apart from few exceptions the shops are risible in their offer. I was also puzzled by the fact that the staff at baggage control were very dismissive and rude when I asked if I needed to take my laptop out. In their non-English and sign-language (of course having a good part of customers and passengers as non Spanish does not make any difference) they told me almost laughing at me that I could send it through and why should I be so paranoid? Finally and I don't know if this has something to do with the carrier easyJet or the airport policy but I had my passport checked 4 times: first at the check in counter then by the easyJet ticket office (the only polite member of staff in the whole airport) then at the gate by an official and then few seconds later by the check in attendant. This after the flight was delayed by an hour and a half and the gate changed 3 times characteristically in completely different parts of the terminal. A really bad experience surprising from a city that has made lots of money from the tourists flocking in to see the guggenheim.

Although the exit from the baggage claim goes directly outside anyone waiting to pick somebody up doesn´t have to wait outside if they take the escalators up to the terminal there is a landing halfway up which leads to a passageway (indoors) which overlooks the baggage claim area so they can actually look down on the passengers waiting for their bags from one floor above - it can get crowded in that passageway.

Was not very impressed designed for not for function but as a statement which to me looked inspired by the 70's. The airport is small and has a few shops cafe's but nowhere to get any kind of food more than a small roll. Strangest thing was walking out of customs exit out into the cold. However strangest thing was security lots of police hanging around however the person screening hand baggage was doing so while reading a newspaper.

I found Bilbao Airport to be a small and pleasant one to get through. No LHR or FRA airport here with all its confusion and chaos. Surprisingly enough there was no subway to the downtown core yet a 10 minute bus ride to the city center is all it takes on bus 3247 for 1.15 Euro each o/w. Upon departing Bilbao - caught the airport bus back to the airport as they depart every 1/2hour from Termibus Bus Depot. Punctual upon arrival - a quick easy check-in at LH counter - great lighting in the airport and nice to have the cafe with a view of the planes and tarmac while sipping cafe con leche once you have passed the security. I would rate the airport 8 out of 10 for easy signage clarity in lighting very smooth operations.

I disagree with the comments. For a brand new airport Bilbao is a poor one. That it is now being rebuilt - just three years after its construction - confirms my bad opinion about this poorly built airport. Calatrava´s buildings may look nice but are totally unfriendly

Bilbao Airport is very modern and looks great from the outside. I've heard it described as seagull inspired but to me as you approach from a distance it looks more concorde inspired. Car parking is very convenient and a short walk from the terminal. When I've arrived by coach in Bilbao to catch a flight however it's a bit of a drag as there's no direct airport bus from the coach station so you have to catch the underground to the square in Bilbao from which the airport bus departs. The airport bus is cheap though at 1.10 euros. Inside the terminal I find it's all concrete and a bit spartan and claustrophobic the darkened glass doesn't help. The cafe area is pretty small but looks out over the runway so you can watch the planes while sipping a coffee. Having the exit from the baggage reclaim area lead straight out to the outside concourse rather than into the terminal building is a bit unusual as it means that people waiting to meet arriving passengers must wait outside in the cold.