Calgary Airport

Lack of clear signage. Not nearly enough plug ins around gate 70 in particular for a billion dollar upgrade. Not much for food courts. Have been flying in and out of calgary for 35 years on business and pleasure. This was not a very well thought out expansion.

New airport terminal at Calgary is still a nightmare. We flew out in November and it was horrendous. This time a little better. Security screening so disorganized. We are TSA-precleared and also Nexus. We were told to go to the front of the line but so was everyone else who was Nexus and people coming after us wanted to push in in front. There is just no clear proceedure. And one of the people working with the screening was in such a bad mood that she was yelling at people telling them to move their stuff. Not a great way to start the day. If you can't be pleasant at 4am you shouldn't work there. Still have to walk through the Duty Free mall but this time weren't accosted by sales people. Still allergic to all the perfume and there is a by-pass door but is only available to employees.

I hate this airport. Incredible long distances everywhere. Signage is dismal. Arrows point in different directions. I came in on B terminals no signs for E terminal until half way through airport. Cleared American customs and ended up in duty free shop. No signage for gate had to make a turn through narrow aisles. I think this terminal was designed by a mall designer who wants to make people walk as far as possible past as many stores as possible. This electronic sign gate was for a different airline and different destination. What a mess.

✅ Verified Review | Landed in Calgary Airport at 3:19pm. Was through immigration, baggage retrieval and customs at 3:36pm. Very impressed. The airport is brand new and stunning. Whoever designed and built this airport should be very pleased. Felt very welcoming, a great representation for Canada.

We landed in Calgary from Mexico on Saturday, what a mess at that airport. We proceeded to pick up our luggage and go through Customs then we were directed to go through security. There was only one line open, we must of been close to 80-100 inline it took us 1 hour by the time we got our luggage and to get through security. This is unacceptable considering Calgary Airport think they are the newest state of the art airport. And also on our way to Mexico we landed in Calgary, well they don't have enough seats at the gate so therefore people walk around trying to find a seat and then when its time to board it takes forever as people are not at the gate (unless you want to sit on the floor). I will never fly through Calgary again, I will do any other airport before having a layover in Calgary. Everyone in line at security was complaining, and one of the big hold up was they were screening all the seniors going through one by one, well we all know that lots of seniors have had hip and knee replacements and will beep going though. It was so disorganized I could write a lot more. What a joke for an airport.

✅ Verified Review | Use the new international terminal leaving Calgary Airport. Had to walk thru Duty Free store in a U shape formation before entering gates. Common gate board shows gate number. Heard from various people that seating is limited at the gates so wait in the common area. Watch the display board and it changed from “blank” to “final call” and then an audio announcement saying that it was the final call. Had to dash to the gate in order to catch the flight. Coming back, the gate hallway is blocked as passengers wait for their “a la carte” luggage (a la carte luggage is when your hand carry is too big to be put on a small plane such as a Q400 which is then put in the belly of the plane and is retrieved as you exit the plane). Previously your hand carry is put on a cart and you grab it as you leave. Now the hand carry is put on an elevator and brought up where an agent unloads the elevator. Problem is there is not much waiting area and YYC luggage handlers have always been slow to unload a plane. Passengers have no courtesy to step aside to let other passengers without carry on walk by. 1 of the 2 moving walkways is not working. Audio and display state carousal 3 for baggage claim. 40 minutes later I go to AS baggage assistance and tell them people are waiting for 40 minutes for baggage. One passenger mentions his equipment was on carousal 1. AS agent then walks to carousal 3 to announce that luggage may be on carousal 1 which it was.

Long boring confused walk to C73. No food, water or washroom nearby. Don't come to this airport hungry or thirsty. The worst upgraded airport. Wonder who designed this. Definitely someone who never travel regularly. Seeing parents with crying kids having nothing to eat is sad. Vending machines are not the answer. Wake up YYC.

✅ Verified Review | Arrival at the new International wing from the USA was very smooth with the automated Customs declaration - I like it. However, the walk was exceptionally long overall. In addition, upon exiting the Canadian Customs area one must make a long walk under the surveillance of everyone meeting their friends, to make a U-turn to go back opposite the exit doors you just came out, to leave the building to the Cell-phone-lot pickup. This wasteful walk is identical to the original exit layout at the Canada Customs exit in the old terminal. Years later a short cut was installed there. Why this unnecessary regression in the new terminal? Dropping passenger off: I used the short term parking in P2 and found taking the elevator down to a cavernous hall, to walk under the roadway and then walk back up a very long ramp to the arrivals level, nowhere near the escalators up to the departures level, to be very time consuming and frustrating. 15 minutes of your parking time will be spent walking. Departure: I dislike stores that make me walk through the cosmetics department to get to where I want to go. The U.S. departure path at the new terminal dumps you directly into the Duty Free Store, with no option to avoid the congestion there, complete with obstacles (display cases) in the way to the free-flow of passengers and their drag-along luggage. The common waiting areas for multiple gates should make for more efficient operation of the airport, but when seated there one cannot hear the local gate announcements re passengers needing to complete their passport check-ins, explanations for delays, etc. I remain seriously underwhelmed by the design of this new wing.

I had been told that there were problems with the new terminal. I was not prepared for the unbelievable poorly designed mess of the new departure terminal. What were they thinking. So little seating, limited food choices. It is like they want to make the traveler as uncomfortable as possible. Very disappointed. Calgary could have done so much better.

Again connection times in Calgary on this and previous trip were horrendous and involved running through the airport to make my flights. A minimum connection time between 1.5 and 2 hours is required. Not 45 minutes at full speed and stressed. If this happens again I will not hesitate to book with another airline even if KLM is one of the best airlines I have flown.