East Midlands Airport

❎ Unverified | Absolutely cannot fathom how the security staff have managed to get through the interview process. Outrageously rude young female barking at me disrespectfully in front of my three young children. She continued her barrage of abuse even once her very simple task (of moving trays from one place onto a conveyor belt - an even easier job than supermarket cashier) was complete. Once I was about to walk through the dated body scanner she made sure to shout "she's wearing a belt! Take your belt off!" To seemingly make a point of having the last word (the "belt" was a thin plaited leather waistband attached to my jeans). East Midlands - please try in future to employ decent human beings.

✅ Verified Review | If Fawlty Towers was an airport, this would be it. Last week the queue to join the security queue was the entire length of the check in sheds. Today's extra security rule was only one bag of liquids no larger than the prescribed size - not a problem for me as I didn't have any but it slowed things down a lot as people had to decant what they had into the official bags. I placed all my stuff in the appointed places on the conveyor and was heading to the metal detector when the security man barked at me asking if I had anything in my pockets. I didn't, but a little politeness wouldn't kill him. The perfume shop is massive and lavish (although the roof leaks). Everywhere else is dingy and overcrowded. The gate your flight is assigned is kept top secret as long as possible to make sure there are always crowds of people rushing in opposite directions to gates. Sometimes a kindly wheelchair assistant will tell you the gate number for your flight. Since they know, would it kill the airport to put it on the screen. The ANPR system regularly fails to recognise my perfectly standard number plate - mostly on the way out so I'm trapped until someone answers the phone (not usually very soon). This evening we waited ages to be allowed off the flight only to be kept waiting in the rain for ages before we were allowed into the building. This is a shoddy, grabby, badly organised airport run by management who clearly could not care less about passengers.

✅ Verified Review | Firstly the drop off price is a rip off - £2. Compared with Birmingham - £1. Money grabbing and outrageous and one of the exit barriers wasn't working hence chaos and long queues to exit. Then the long wait going through security. Supposed to be 9 gates, this is rare usually only 3 or 4, but then the public can wait! Also the long walk to gate 23 without moving walkways. A struggle for the elderly. A further long walk to the aircraft - not a good experience on a wet and windy day. A mention about returning to East Midlands, usually met by a bus but dropped off as far away as possible at the end of the walkway mingling with other inbound passengers trying to get to passport control. It's time management took a hard look at themselves and tried to improve the traveling experience from East Midlands Airport. I am a regular flyer and fail to notice any improvements here over the last few years. A comment from management would be welcome.

We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight and, because their was an inadequate amount of staff for the volume of people, it took so long to get through security we missed our flight. The attitude of the security manager we spoke to was, nothing we can do. Said in a very long winded way. I would not recommend this airport.

Delays both ways. Flights 8th May out - 12th May return. Only 3 security stations (out of 9) open on the way out - over 40 mins to get through. Delays on the way back at border control because of those ridiculous self serve stations which mostly fail to scan the photo part of your passport. Badly organised overall and seem only interested in taking your money at the Duty Free.

Our local airport, it hasn't improved over the years, shocking queues. Expanded too fast, dirty and untidy, rip off car park prices. Won't be going back until it improves, a real let down for the East Midlands. Derby, Leicester and Nottingham deserve a much better facility.

✅ Verified Review | I have always favoured EMA above the others. I own a property in Spain, and have travelled to Málaga five or six times a year for the last 14 years. I started with Go, then easyJet, BMI baby and now travel with Ryanair. It has always been a friendly local airport half an hour from home, but over the last two or three years, it has developed a nasty, sleazy money-grabbing side. Not too long ago, you could be dropped off by friends free of charge, provided you were in and out in 10 minutes. This was good; welcome to EMA! Then, no more free drop off. A charge of £1 for 10 minutes was introduced. People started to drop their friends off on airport roads or at the petrol station from where they could walk to the terminal. MAG obviously saw this as a major problem. The £1 charge was doubled "to improve the airport facilities" and new signs appeared threatening dire consequences and fines if any car was seen dropping anybody off other than by paying the £2 charge. The latest "improvements" I saw today? 1) The buses collecting passengers from the aircraft now drop off at the far end of the outside shelter, increasing the distance needing to be walked into immigration. The drivers and herding staff appear to have been instructed to force all passengers to enter through the furthest entrance to the shelter from the hall. 2) The reaction to larger immigration queues appears not to be to to improve the service with more staff or reading machines, they have added to the queueing area to allow longer and slower queues! Today I waited for 45 minutes just to get to a machine. 3) Passengers with electronically readable passports are forced to queue to use the machines, where the Border staff at the normal desks stare into space with little or nothing to do! Today only 3 of the 5 machines were working! EMA has morphed into an unpleasant airport with little to commend it, except its location. What a pity!

I have used and reviewed this airport a number of times in the last few years and this is the last review I will write. This formally nice little local airport has slowly changed into a money grabbing crowded little dump. Travelled to Dublin on St Patrick's Day and back two days later. Even at 4.45am super crowded and security barely able to cope. Once through a time consuming security herded through the horrible Duty Free area into crowded seating areas - certainly not enough seats at the departure gate to hold all the passengers. Expensive eateries (but to be fair it's the same at most airports). At least I only live 10 minutes away, and as we were returning from Dublin with hand baggage only got straight through on our return. Awful. And I'm using it again in June to fly to Murcia.

✅ Verified Review | Security is understaffed and the people running it are rude and inconsistent. I travel every week via this airport. Last week I was told for the first and so far only time, to remove my shoes - "because of the new body scanner" - the same body scanner I've been through wearing the same shoes every week so far this year (and most of last). This week I went through the body scanner again, wearing the same shoes - how can that make any sense? Then in spite of the wonderful scanner I was subjected to a thorough and highly intrusive search. OK, you might say, they are being thorough - but in that case I'd love to know why I don't get the same at any of the many other airports I visit. I'd also love to know why EMA thinks it's OK to make us wait so long at security when other airports can do the process quickly and cheerfully. On a "good" day the wait for security is a little shorter than the time I'm in the air - on bad days (summer time) I actually spend longer in the EMA security queue than in the air. Lots of reviews on here and elsewhere mention how bad security is so management know full well - they clearly don't care.

✅ Verified Review | I would like to thank all of the special assistance staff at East Midlands airport. Our journey was made so much better by these cheerful people. I cannot thank them enough for the way we were treated, with care and respect. They could not do enough for us and nothing was too much trouble. Far cry from our past journeys where it had seemed that people with disabilities were an inconvenience and second class citizens. We have always preferred travelling from East Midlands airport but this just proves we were correct in our choice. Travelled to Fuertaventura 5-2-2017 and returned 12-2-2017.