Birmingham Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 428 reviews
3/10
No Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"every time I have there has been a problem"

(United Kingdom)

Unverified | I travel by plane 10 to 12 times a year mostly on business. I use Birmingham airport as it is local to my home but every time I have there has been a problem. I am currently stood on a plane in Birmingham airport waiting for stairs to be delivered so we can disembark, this has now gone for 20 mins. I am pretty sure that this is not the first plane to land here, so you would imagine they understand the process of air travel? I have never written a review before but I think people ought to know how poor the service at the airport is. I will continue to review honestly every time I use this airport as doing this is almost cathartic!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"Disgraceful situation from the start"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | Following a delay at the departure airport of one hour we arrived in Birmingham and as we were leaving the plane the second batch of people were asked to wait (about 10 minutes) as the steps had not been fitted correctly and there was a very large gap. Then upon entering the airport the doors were locked. We were told that there is a window of 40 minutes after which the doors self lock. No good when there is no-one around to re-open them, this again took about 15 minutes before anyone came. Then the final straw was at the baggage carousel which started and stopped over the course of 45 minutes sending maybe one or two cases through at a time. Frustration made worse by the fact that it was 1.15am and there was no-one around. One worker was approached who told us that he could do nothing as he was nothing to do with the baggage handlers. Disgraceful situation from the start of arriving into Birmingham until we left.
Experience At AirportArrival Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
7/10

"less hassle than any London airport"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | 20 Sep, departed BHX for ZRH on LX421. Car parking rather expensive, check-in OK. I have a Lufthansa Frequent Flyer card which entitles be to the priority lane, but the crush at the end isn't much fun. Then through the maze of perfume sellers to queue for an indifferent coffee at Costa - where Vodafone signals fail to reach. Lavatories are abysmal - is it the type of people who use them, or the cleaners? Either way they're pretty filthy. Once at the departure gate, things were OK though. 22 Sep, arrived from FRA on LH958. We'd been told of a 40 min 'slot delay' at BHX, which astonished me; fortunately it turned out to be less than that and we landed only 20 min late. But were then kept waiting on board for 10-15 min whilst the groundcrew faffed about with the jet pier. By the time we were let off, at least the queues had reduced and even the e-passport gates worked without any problem. Another encounter with the stinking lavatories in the arrival area, but my luggage arrived only a few minutes later. Then bus, car park and away! For all its faults, BHX is still less hassle than any London airport. But it simply isn't able to cope with the number of passengers now using it, although I'll be flying from BHX again later this week!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
1/10

"this airport cannot cope with the volume of people"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | Disgusting airport, nothing good about it. Baggage claim is a joke. Had to wait a hour for bags to start coming out. Four different flights on one carousel but not in the order of arrival. So one baggage guy (on his own) had to come back into the building from outside and start taking luggage off the carousel to allow the bags for the actual people waiting to come through! Resulting in a huge pile of suitcases being left on the side in a pile. It's obvious that this airport cannot cope with the volume of people and flights passing through. This place looks like a dump and it's not clean. Staff walking around like The Walking Dead. It's embarrassing as a Brummie turning up to this place. Apart from the runway extension it looks like there has been no money put into the actual airport terminals for some years (there may have been - but it still looks shabby). Short term car park is a complete rip off and when we arrived on a Saturday afternoon only two ticket machines were working - the rest were out of order. Level it and start again.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"The queuing was dreadful"

(United Kingdom)

Unverified | Arrived in Birmingham Airport and there were screens stating up to 10 minute wait through passport control. It took 45 minutes. The queuing was dreadful. 4 different flights landed, we had been waiting for 10 minutes then another flight landed and walked straight past everyone. There was no sign of staff to say what the delay was. When got to passport control there was 6 staff and 3 empty cubicles. Not good for a supposedly international airport. We had flown from Faro airport which is not a big airport but was so much easier.
Experience At AirportArrival Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"it seems to be getting worse"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | Make no mistake, this is a 3rd class airport (I have seen higher standards in so called 3rd world). I fly for business so pay for all “extras” but it’s still not good enough. The security queues are long even if one pays for “Express lane”. It’s staffed by imbeciles. The toilets are smelly and not very clean, pot luck if you will find toilet paper or not. The food choices are limited and there is not enough seating in the main atrium. The queue management is not well organised or coordinated, i.e Priority Boarding queue is mixed up with other queue as they couldn’t even be bothered to put cheap lane dividers like for gates 45/47 (I guess they used them up in the theme park style snake lines). It underwent a “renovation” but still has no air bridges (at least not for the airlines like Aer Lingus) and one has to go down and up many stairs to get to the plane. Usually airports get better with time but I have been flying out of Birmingham “International” airport for 10+ years and it seems to be getting worse for passengers at least (must be good for all the profiteering rip off merchants). I am highly disappointed and wouldn’t travel from here if I had better choice available. Heathrow is far better but not practical if you live in Birmingham or surrounding areas.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"this airport leaves a lot to be desired"

(United Kingdom)

Unverified | How this Airport can possibly be classified as International is beyond belief, the overall standard of this Airport leaves a lot to be desired and unfortunately this relates to numerous areas within the Airport. My family and I were travelling to and from Menorca but, found the whole ordeal rather unpleasant, we know security is an issue but, the way in which it's managed here is a joke. Being subjected to being herded through roped off zig zag areas like cattle is not my idea of a pleasant holiday experience and as such is wholly unacceptable and something I'm in no rush to repeat any time soon. Upon arrival back at Birmingham International we were kept waiting in the terminal for in excess of over an hour for our luggage, as apparently four flight arrivals were unloaded onto the one carousel at the same time, totally unacceptable! Birmingham International Airport it certainly is not.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"have never been so disgusted"

(United Kingdom)

Unverified | Departure was okay. On arrival we were kept on the runway for 10 minutes before being allowed on the pan. We joined a queue for immigration that was all the way down to our arrival gate. It took 45 minutes to get to the border staff. People from flights after ours were trying to jump the queue. It almost caused violent confrontations until the airport sent a staff member to direct them. The signs at the border 'GREAT BRITAIN' are an insult there was nothing great about this performance. Our baggage had long since arrived and some had been taken off the carousel to allow room for 2 other crowds of waiting passengers from incoming flights. I have never been so disgusted by the incompetency shown by this airport management. It was worse than my early days of going into Goa, years ago and that is saying something. I hope I never have to travel from here again.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"only three passport control officers on duty"

(United Kingdom)

Unverified | Have used this airport in the past and experienced the same shortfalls, particularly getting through passport control and luggage collection. Again only three passport control officers on duty while people have long waits. I read that the airport recognise the problem and will employ more passport staff. No sign of that happening. They have spent lots of money on the shopping facilities but neglect passengers travel needs.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"too rushed, poor facilities for single travellers"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | The Airport lounges were dirty, the toilets had sinks and dryers inoperative. Costa Coffee does not operate a drink in service, many tables occupied with drinkers who had purchased cartons. The walk from the drop off area to departures offers no cover from the elements. On presenting a lounge key for the lounge I was told no admission unless booked, how do you know how busy it is likely to be? The whole airport does not offer a good departure experience, too rushed, poor facilities for single travellers.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no