London Stansted Airport

Stansted airport Management seem to defy all the basic rules of pax flows and minimum customer service. It doesn´t suffice to take all chairs way from the land side hall to maximise efficiency, nor does it help to apply American queing without any decent directions. Signage is a total disaster, leading to hurdles of confused pax walking around, deprived from all sense of direction. Imagine the scenario I encountered in June, at the start of holiday season, where the inexperienced traveller was trying to find their way to their gate. I understand that Stansted Airport is trying to get their revenue from retail income and parking, but that still isn´t an excuse for this totally failed lay out and not sure if retail is getting their results. Tills don´t show queues, even at peak times, Look there is an advantage here for the pax who are willing to spend some money, but take considerable more time than usual for your flight. Arrival is not even worth spending words. The last 6 times 5 machines out of 15 were open, where 2 of them were not working properly, whilst the man operated stations were trying to attend the massive crowd .Management revise your plan, whilst you still can: Make landside a tiny bit more pleasant (equipment and staff) and do something about the signage, flow and ridiculously high prices. Try to get some retailers in that are hitting your target pax (low budget).

Most inefficient airport I have ever been to. I asked an off duty border control officer if this is as bad as it gets and she said no. They've been given 33% more flights and no extra staff. Tip: Use standard queue, not e-passport queue.

Departure from airport at 4am - noticed new shops making a narrow walkway and no seats to sit down, couldn't eat as no seats, it was heaving with people. At that time of the morning it was chaos. On our return 11th June it was even worse, passport control was awful we queued for 45 mins and that was at electronic passport, the other passport holders were just as bad. It was better organized in Crete airport than here, very disappointed, will try to go from Gatwick or Southend in future.

Queues at Border Control are unbelievably long, in the past month I landed there twice and I had to queue 45 minutes the first time and 40 minutes the second time. There were a lot of elderly passengers and families with children but there are no seating facilities, no toilets and no water and it was also very hot. There were only two/three Border control officers with hundreds and hundreds of people queuing, simply unacceptable, if you can please try to avoid landing here. Worst airport in London by far when it comes to Border Control queues.

I now know how cattle being herded feel. From getting on the train at Liverpool Street to getting off the flight at Cork Airport it was push and shove and frustration and stress. I pitied anyone with children in the security queue, which took 55 mins to negotiate, with not enough lines for the many passengers. If you have mobility problems-forget it. The gate number is not put up until almost the flight time which means people were running and pushing along the narrow corridors. Lots of duty free items sold out as were the snacks as my flight was at 20.25 and the shops didn't appear to have been restocked since the morning. I feel sorry for the staff working there as they must be constantly stressed. Avoid like the plague.

I have spent 8 years flying every week or two, mainly around Europe but also the Americas and Pacific rim. During that time I have been through airport security systems over 1000 times in many cities and countries. This morning at Stansted was the worst experience ever. It took nearly an hour from the time I put my hand luggage on the conveyor. They insisted on checking my sleep apnoea unit separately, probably because the security man had never heard of the condition or the equipment. A first for me. They also insisted on separately scanning a solid deodorant, marketed as not needling to be separately screened. Again, a first. The security guy said they classed the product as a liquid, even though it is solid, on the grounds that it could be melted to a liquid. I pointed out that this was true of metal as well. I spoke to a supervisor, who said she was a trainer, who produced a similarly illogical mantra. 20 minutes should be the maximum time taken to get through security.

Worst Airport in the UK? I have travelled twice in the last 18 months (twice out and twice in) and its a complete nightmare. Charging for drop off is disgusting. What are disabled people supposed to do? Also the entire experience is one giant queue. Queue for check in, queue for security, queue to get through the narrow maze path that is the new duty-free, then finally end up in an open space to be greeting by a refugee camp scene. No Seats - probably to force you to shop even more. Again, what are people with disabilities of mobility issues supposed to do here? You then queue for an escalator down to a pier, then queue for the toilets (mens). On your way in you queue for ages and ages to get through passport control. Clearly this airport hates its customers. Why are they forcing so many people through a terminal that is not fit for purpose? I vow never to use Stansted again. Vote with your feet I say.

Stansted seem to be on a mission to prove they need loads of money to expand, why else would they be so determined to make the experience of flying to or from there so unpleasant? Everything involves a queue, from parking, security, toilets, food, self service tills at WH Smiths and they have replaced all the seating with shops so you are forced into the overpriced food outlets. Then one hour before your flight you see the Final Call sign flashing telling you to run to some gate half a mile away so you can queue some more. Priority Boarding on Ryanair is great value, if you particularly love spending time standing in dirty corrugated steel tunnels with a stranger's armpit for company. Getting back is even more fun, the queue on June 6th for a 7.30 arrival started at the bottom of the planes steps and ended about two hours later. Don't use the e-passport queue it takes twice the time. Bring a folding stool, a spare battery for your phone and maybe a copy of War and Peace to while away the time with no air conditioning, water, food or hope. Half of the passport facial recognition booths didn't seem to like working in the sun, which makes their placement testament to someone's total incompetence. Fly to Heathrow and at least you won't ruin your holiday with a rubbish conclusion or arrive home enraged from a business trip.

What a disgustingly grubby airport this is turning into. From money grabbing parking fees to filthy toilets. Arrivals passport control is a disgrace. 45 minutes resulted in a huge parking bill for my pick up. I would strongly recommend that you avoid this airport.

The e-passport gates at Stansted are beyond a joke. Queues much slower than the traditional passport control. It took an hour to get through them this evening. Stansted needs to seriously rethink this policy. It works in other countries. Why on earth is it such a shambles at Stansted?