Bristol Airport

❎ Not Verified | We first went to the Costa coffee cafe and were troubled by an unattended bag sitting on a seat at one of the tables well away from the serving area. I searched for some form of security personnel but the area was quiet and I couldn't identify anyone. After around ten minutes a female returned to the bag carrying a coffee. my Wife was travelling alone for the first time and as she wears two hearing aids and is epileptic she was naturally 'concerned' that she travelled safely and without stress. At security she tried to explain to the female security person that she couldn't hear her properly several times, and was then 'manhandled' through, and had to remove her outer clothing without a full and proper explanation from the very rude staff. She called me on arrival in France and was still upset and shocked by the experience. Thankfully we have other airports to choose from and will not be travelling via Bristol Airport again.

❎ Not Verified | To start our holiday off we decided to have a breakfast in the Brunel Bar. That was our first mistake, my partner ordered the Ultimate English Breakfast at £10.95 and I ordered the Vegetarian Breakfast at £8.95. My potato rosti consisted of 3 small two pence size potato balls, the only egg available was scrambled egg that was rubbery on both meals and the Ultimate breakfast would not have satisfied a teenager left alone an adult. I have never seen such small plates. With a drink each, the breakfast cost us £31.00. Brunel Bar - you should be utterly ashamed on yourselves for serving such small, tasteless breakfasts. My second moan is about the long wait at bagge reclaim. Our flight was the only flight waiting for bags and this took over 45 minutes, which after a 5 hour flight is unacceptable. This happened on our previous flight as well. Bristol Airport needs to up its game if it is to keep people using it.

✅ Trip Verified | Easter has come as a surprise to Bristol airport, security system not working, no trays and very unhelpful staff standing around doing nothing about it. Nearly missed our flight having allowed 1.5 hrs to get through the airport. Complete incompetence.

✅ Trip Verified | The Bristol Airport restaurant facilities are a disgrace for an 'international' airport. In one of the airport restaurants - the 'Cabin' - the food is utterly inedible. The menu consists mainly of various burgers and 'wedges' (fat chips) or Caesar salads with or without chicken. There are no kitchen or cooking facilities, the food is simply piled on a plate and put in a microwave. The 'wedges' just turn to mush and the chicken burger I had was a stale bun with one tired lettuce leaf, a small slice of cold tomato and a quite repulsive filet of chicken that had been 'cooked' in the microwave. I couldn't eat it and sent it back. The staff obviously know of this problem and immediately accepted a change of dish so I chose something risk-free (I thought) - a plain Caesar salad. Back came a mound of even tireder green lettuce, a few croutons, cheap mayonnaise sploshed over it and hardly a sign of the 'cheese' indicated on the menu. I also sent it back and we decided to leave and paid for our drinks. These burgers and salads are wildly expensive - between £9 - £14! OK, airport food is always that much more expensive but these prices for the junk you get is scandalous! When I complained about each dish I was told I was the first customer to do so! This was totally untrue as my partner and I saw another table refusing the burger and 'wedgies', yet another customer nearby came up to us and and told us how much he agreed, and the couple next to us did, too, and ended up choosing cheese and biscuits for their meal - the only edible possibility. And to top it all, the menu proudly announces 'less than a 15 minute' wait for your meal but we waited over half an hour! When I asked the waitress where our food was she said apologetically that they had run out of printing paper!!! We had no idea what she meant by that. So a warning to all travellers at Bristol Airport: do not go to 'The Cabin' to eat. The other restaurant further along isn't much better either - mainly burgers again. There is a small café/snack bar between the two which is probably your best bet, certainly a bit cheaper - although I ended up having a pre-packed salad there and it was very dry with practically no salad sauce in the box.

✅ Trip Verified | Shocking baggage handling! It took over an hour for our luggage to arrive at the collection point. The first lot of luggage from flight no TOM6651 arrived quite quickly. An EasyJet flight landed around 30 minutes after ours. The baggage handlers decided to unload the EasyJet flight before finishing unloading the Thomson's. Most frustrating after a long day travelling.

✅ Trip Verified | We booked Special Assistance as my husband has recently had 2 knee replacements. Check in was fine, he did not need a wheelchair but used a walking stick. He was a long time through security including the special scanner due to the metal in the knees setting off the alarm. We had anticipated the stairs and 0.5 km walk to the gate (EayJet) hence the special assistance but the gate used on this occasion was much closer. We declined the use of the vehicular lift as there were too many wheelchairs to fit in, proceeded slowly to the steps only to be almost knocked down by the Speedy Boarders' rush to get their seats! Please note that Special Assistance is being overused due to the long walk and number of stairs at this airport and also to a few abusing the system totally! Alicante airport was wonderful, no fuss in security and plenty of wheelchairs so used one. On arrival on a 3 hour delayed flight, the Special Assistance people endured a 1 hour wait on the draughty plane waiting for the vehicular lift. Walking off was not an option as the plane was at the furthest flung part of the airport. This caused considerable anger and distress for the small group, many with more severe disability. We were told the airport has only 3 of these vehicles. We will avoid this airport in future, we live nearer to Exeter which offers fewer destinations but has not expanded hugely without paying attention to facilities for disabled.

❎ Not Verified | Travelled out with friends Bristol to Cork for New Year. Arrived at airport and went to check in as some were taking more than hand luggage. This was so easy and the Aer Lingus staff were friendly and helpful. We then went to security, this was easy and we were all through within 10 minutes. Bristol really has improved this part of its operation. I set the alarm off as I always do, false hip and was asked to stand in the new body scanner. Everything was done with professionalism and good humour. I didn't even have to take my shoes off. We then had a meal and a drink and boarded our plane from gate 3. On our return we bussed to the terminal and for some reason did not go through security but straight into baggage reclaim where our bags were actually waiting. Super fast efficient service. If Bristol keeps improving like this I will use again.

❎ Not Verified | In the context of an incident on the runway - no information received as to whether the flight will be departing at all. It is a mystery. People have lives and this clearly has not been acknowledged. There is no sense of urgency and not even the help desk people have received any information - unacceptable and unhelpful to those who are in need of an answer.

❎ Not Verified | Bristol is my local airport and it could be wonderful, if it did not let itself down on some aspects of its customer service. When we flew out to Basel our plane was late coming in and it would have been so easy to make a short announcement informing us. Instead we waited and waited for a gate, which was finally displayed about 10 minutes before our departure would have been due, followed immediately by saying 'Gate closing'. So numerous people raced to the gate, only to find that the plane's doors had not even opened yet to let the incoming passengers disembark. When we returned there were several passport officials on duty and an airport employee divided us into people with passports and those with ID cards. The latter, of which there were not many, were allowed to go through the normal control and we passport holders had to queue for ages for the electronic readers, which were very slow. When we asked, if we could divert into the empty lanes to get checked by the passport officers, we were told that we had to go through the readers, despite the fact that the queue w9uld have moved much faster, if both had been used equally. As to the electronic readers - when we came back in the summer one of them would not read my husband's passport and he was told that his chip was faulty and he needed to get a new passport. My friend, who was not far behind him, was stopped using the same reader and told that it was not working properly. Fortunately she told us and my husband did not apply for a new passport, which would have been expensive. Needless to say, this time the reader read his passport, which means that there is nothing wrong with the chip. Another question that puzzles me is, why is this the only airport I have been through (and I have been through many) that makes such a fuss about the size of plastic bag for the cosmetics etc.. at the security check. All other airports I have used don't care what size it is, as long as it is transparent and re-sealable. I have seen people using sturdier versions in A4 size at Frankfurt and no-one minds. In the past at Bristol I have been told that my bag is too small, despite the fact that it had only a lip salve and a small bottle of perfume in it, that it is too big or the wrong make (?). Please Bristol Airport make our journey more enjoyable and less stressful by using some common sense and remember that passengers are much less likely to complain, when they are kept informed and treated like adults.

❎ Not Verified | Bristol airport must have the most miserable and unhelpful passport control staff in the world. No matter how many times I have travelled through and how polite and friendly I try to be they remain miserable, monosyllabic and unhelpful. Baggage reclaim is awful. Even when we were the only flight in the luggage took over half an hour to start and the cases were soaking as if they had just been left in the rain. It used to be my first choice of local airport but is rapidly becoming my last.