London Gatwick Airport

We traveled to Austria from Gatwick north on Saturday 29th June. No problem. Returned to south terminal instead of north. Had to walk round and down long slopes wondering where on earth we were then Passport control was a joke. E passport joined this queue. We did it was excruciatingly slow. Only 4 machines and most people needed help. The queue for other passports was moving at an amazing speed compared to ours.

Have flown back into Gatwick North Terminal twice in the last two months. Arrived middle of the afternoon and on both occasions the queue at Passport Control was horrendous. There does seem to be a problem developing and there are not enough Staff on duty. Otherwise it is a very good Terminal to use.

What is going on at Gatwick Airport. Yesterday I arrived back from Munich (1 hr late) at 11.30pm then had to wait nearly an hour at a queue for Passport control. There seemed to be thousands of people snaking though and out of the Passport hall. This also happened in May at a similar time. Only half the desks open and the Electronic passport booths not working. Unacceptable Gatwick especially at that time of day. Also when leaving earlier there is huge building work inside the terminal so not much room or many shops. Why is the place permanently undergoing building work?

Chaos in the North Terminal yesterday around 1.30pm for some reason. We had to wait 30 minutes on the plane while they tried to find someone to drive the airbridge and the baggage took another 30 minutes to arrive. Shocking service.

Since London Gatwick is the furthest London airport from where I live I don't tend to use it too often. Living north of London it involves a long trek down the M1 and M25 both frequently congested so in my case not a good route to get there. I find the North Terminal to be much better than the South generally since its more modern and much cleaner with shorter queues however I do find there's a better range of shops and facilities in the South Terminal. Overall the airport experience is ok but areas can be very busy at times and gates can be quite a walk (but walking over the sky bridge at the North Terminal is fantastic). Arriving was less easy. We had to all squeeze into a bus and be transferred to arrivals where passport control was still a bit of a walk. It's ok at a regional airport but this is not the sort of arrival I would expect at a major airport like London Gatwick. Whilst the airport has vastly improved since BAA's ownership I would still be pleased to see a bit more sparkle and a bit more of an international airport feeling rather than an inner city shopping centre. I think the absence of flight announcements gives this feeling and also is rather irritating as you have to keep checking the screens regularly. Overall I would say Gatwick is a little disappointing for it's size and importance as a major UK airport. It offers a smooth enough journey and I would never advise people to avoid London Gatwick but I would rarely recommend it out of choice.

A year ago I wrote a review praising North terminal this week I used South and was similarly impressed. Getting to and from the long stay car park was efficient queues for security and passport checks short staff generally friendly and helpful and facilities good. It is clear that the owners have invested heavily (the toilets are better than those in many good hotels) and have improved the passenger's experience. In my view it is easily the best of the major London airports.

Its been a while since I have been here and its ok - just. Flew at end of day (one of last flights out of North terminal) despite this it was hard to find a seat to start with as not many around as most of the space is given over to over priced shops and food outlets. It may have also been impacted by building work or that may have been for more shops. Connection from central London is easy with a choice of train stations and takes no more than an hour depending on which train you get. Huge wait for bags on return with no one around to say why or what was going on.

Have used the airport 3 times in the past 12 months and each time have travelled with our new baby. The experience has been very good. Check in extremely quick and simple customs and security they have the own family lanes and it feels like your being whisked through like a VIP can't fault the place . Well done Gatwick.

Flew in from Canaries on a regular (Thomson) scheduled flight on 19 April 2012. We had to sit in the plane for fifty minutes at La Palma because (we were told by pilot) there was heavy congestion at Gatwick. When we eventually arrived (late) at Gatwick (N terminal) at 12.10am we then had the most appalling chaos getting through passport control. Huge queues with no staff available to assist/explain what was going on. It was 1.00 am when we finally got to show our passports. No explanations let alone apologies from anyone. What a welcome home!

I've used Gatwick a number of times over the past few years - both North and South Terminals Long and Short Haul. Overall the experience at Gatwick has improved greatly with better facilities and signage in particular. Out of the two terminals I do prefer the South for post-security facilities but that is personal preference. Some of the reviews reference significant security delays from my experience these types of delays are something of the past unless there is disruption and on the past few trips we have waited no more than a minute or two to be seen. UKBA on the way back is a different story entirely but that is out of the hands of the airport operator.