London Gatwick Airport

Bad points - the distance walking to/from the most distant aircraft stands at North terminal - my personal view is that buses would be better than the seemingly endless hike. The inability to take luggage trolleys as far as the rail station platform. It should be possible to put barriers at platform level rather than have to lug cases to/from escalators or lifts. Good points - the rail station location. The efficiency of the link train between south and north terminals. The speed and pleasantness of staff as we passed through security and passport control at the start and end of our recent journey.

If you are arriving at Gatwick allow a minimum of 50 minutes for the arrival of luggage on the baggage carousel. Allow 10 minutes to get from baggage collection to rail ticket collection machines but allow 20 to 30 minutes queuing time there to get access to the machines. There seems to be constant delays on the trains from Gatwick to St. Pancras.

I suppose I have to commend Gatwick. Due to appalling traffic congestion (we had allowed an extra hour due to the M25 causing 'difficulties' but it was much worse than reported) we arrived in the short stay car park for South terminal 27 minutes before departure time - and made it with 10 minutes to spare. This was without queue jumping and by making a polite request to security to be quick. On return we were back in the car 20 minutes after leaving the aircraft the e-passport reader worked very quickly for me but my colleague was held up for a couple of minutes. However it was very annoying when in a hurry (or not) to be diverted on what appeared to be two long detours after security simply to take us past endless retail outlets in a straight line I reckon we could have cut another couple of minutes off our time in the terminal - and it was a long way to the departure gate.

The technology at e-passport customs/immigration for UK passport holders is not very user friendly. I had the experience of using it yesterday it took several attempts and assistance to use it I could see others having the same problems. In fact the regular non e-passport queue was much faster. I had similar experience at Heathrow last year.

Flew from Gatwick to Gibraltar and back. Queues were reasonable but the departure lounge very early on a Saturday morning in October (hardly peak time) was extremely busy and stressful. This airport needs investment but I think the idea of it being the main London airport is fanciful. Heathrow is far better and has more shops.

Flew from Australia (Perth) via Jakarta stopover in AMS. £1 or €1 for a trolley rent at LGW - no warning no visible assistance or change facilities. Thanks for the welcome back to London. Could be worse actually no UK residents might be used to it but not expected from other international arrivals. Our warm welcome leaving LGW (due to delays on M25/M23) check-in was as what you expect from check-in but security comment was 'you're boarding card does not scan and you're late'.

London Gatwick trips 2014. LGW-PSA 10/4/14 PSA-LGW 13/4/14 LGW-UVF 25/5/14 UVF-LGW 02/06/14. My experiences at London Gatwick are positive. Departing: I was last there in 2011 and it has improved. All times on departing we arrived 3hours 30mins before The queues at South Terminal have been extremely short (All times we used south) including Bag drop (UVF only time we did have hold luggage) which took 5mins security which took 10mins at the most. The shopping is great with a large walk through world duty free then an open departure lounge (Stansted is terrible with a small alleyway with all the shops in it (20 or so)). Boarding is allocated between 90mins and 45mins but clearly tell you when (Stansted you have to figure out what time and if it's delayed i.e. Boarding in 129mins). The gates are 15min walk at the most so it was fine there was a lot of seating and boarding was boarding not get in queue. (Stansted you have to queue up for 30mins before walking on to tarmac). Arriving: The immigration queues are quick which is good as after sometimes a 10hour overnight with no sleep you want to get home. There are several e-passport checks as well. It took 10mins to queue both times arriving and the baggage was out quickly. Overall: My favourite London airport with sort queues open spaces and good boarding process and of course a good image for foreigners making their first trip arriving in London.

Very quick and professional Services (Immigration safety gate) and very friendly staff. Very well connected by public Transfer (coaches railway). Definitely recommended.

This is an airport which is difficult to assess. Out from South Terminal. Excellent. Staff at security were helpful. Plenty of seating and the place was clean. Return into North Terminal was a different story. Queue of nearly 45 minutes at passport control. Staff helpful but overwhelmed by the number of returning visitors. Five aircraft landing at approximately the same time. It is difficult for staff to control when some flights arrive late and others early but these delays are unsatisfactory.

You really have to gear yourselves up before you walk the seemingly endless halls and walkways of this airport. I have flown from Gatwick more in the past two years than ever before (from both terminals) and it never seems to end. If you were using this airport for the first time it would certainly be a shock to the system. A few more seating areas would be advantageous. However (on a positive note) my partner and I were pleasantly surprised by the security in the South Terminal; easy simple and quick - and the staff were human!