London Stansted Airport

Once again had the misfortune of the Stansted experience last week. I do not use this airport anymore but my schedule required I had to do so but nothing has improved. It really is the pits. As you enter the airport you have to weave through passengers now making their way to the new location of the security area. To be fair this was reasonably quick once we had walked about 50 metres back and forward through the ever wonderful queuing pens. You are then forced to wander through a shopping mall and into an unmade bottleneck to emerge into a building site. There are not enough seats and Stansted's owners then believe that by not telling you of your gate number you will utilise the retail opportunities. Really? Once you get your gate number and catch the silly little train you find a quiet gate lounge with plenty of seats and an air of calm compared to the dump at the main terminal. Returning into the border control is farcical. The automated gates take longer than the ordinary gates so don't bother to use them. And guess what? Despite the queues 5 of the automated gates were locked out of use. If you managed to get through with a single swipe of the passport you were lucky and many people were not. There was one helpless officer on the other side dashing back and forth telling people to simply try again. It really is pitiful. There is plenty of room to extend this area and add more machines (in return for the APD paid) but they have not done so as it would mean moving a large area reserved for unused luggage trolleys. Most flights are low cost meaning that people do not need luggage trolleys - they just want to get through the airport quickly and stress free. Stansted is unable to do this and this is because MAG believe that it is a third rate shopping mall that some planes fly from. Avoid it at all costs and use Southend City or Heathrow.

Even given the ongoing work in progress - apart from the glitzy duty free the passengers have to endure the other areas where the floor is uneven and pitted - the walls bare and dirty - and a definite shortage of rubbish bins - a most unwelcoming atmosphere.

Went through Stansted today. Long but moving queues in security which was to be expected. However when I got to the top of the queue I was informed my clear toiletries bag was too big! It had 4 items that were under the 100ml and a toothbrush and face wipes. It was also under the 20cm x 20cm size as specified on the Stansted website and clear resealable. I was told to use a smaller bag which was approx 12cm x 12cm. I'm guessing as my toothbrush was no longer able to fit in even when put in diagonally. After leaving the toothbrush to the side I was told "well done sir!"

Flew out 20th Feb back 6th March. Going out security staff checking hand luggage were a disgrace. Shouting demeaning and aggressive approach to passengers. I had my bag checked the staff called me over said 'you've probably got water in there'. Well I had no water and said 'I don't think so'. Next - Do you have a camera. I was able to say 'yes' as I did have one and as he turned the x-ray machine for me to view. His attitude changed a bit as he hadn't found the 'water smuggler' he exchanged pleasantries. In the meantime others in the queue were being belittled. We are not children. Tell us politely what you want and inform us of the need for the procedure you are doing or want to do and 'bob's your uncle'. Co-operation and politeness. Coming back the e-passport system and queues are a disgrace and shambles. Electronic age supposed to be a speedier and efficient age. It isn't at this Airport. Was the software even 'tested'. The wait is lengthy whilst the poor instructions if any do not help to create a speedy progress. 15 -20 barriers. 15-20 people puzzled red failure crosses showing try again messages. Staff rushing to jump one booth to next to help. Staff shouting empty booth numbers for people to go into. The length of the border queues and process are a National Shambles.

Truly appalling experience! My flight was cheap (though I didn't chose it for that reason) so I expected some inconvenience. I will be avoiding Stansted whenever possible in the future - shame because it used to be a nice little airport. So what went wrong? Delays coming on to stand - that's the second time in a row that has happened to me at Stansted. Then 45 minutes to get through border control and their 16 new automatic gates break constantly - several were not working at all while others were taken in and out of service while we waited. By this time Stansted Express had finished operating for the day. No sign on the station to tell you this until after you get to the platform and have already bought your ticket - of course I should have checked in advance but I assumed that as this is an "Express" airport line with lots of flights coming in after 11pm you don't expect it to operate like a rural branch line. How this clock off time makes economic sense for the train operator I don't know. Tried for the bus - hundreds of people milling about in confusion and a huge queue. The only bright spot was the taxi service. They were efficient unruffled with excellent drivers and clean cars and while it was costly their price seemed about right but how many people can afford a taxi? I'm used to travelling and though it was bad for me I was just hugely embarrassed for UK plc. What must all those visitors to the UK think of us.

Travelled back on 1st March nightmare getting through e passport gates which rejected about 40% of passengers adding to the confusion and queuing. On the way out the temporary facilities whilst they rebuild are completely overwhelmed by the passenger numbers - really should stop being greedy and either close and complete the refit or limit the passenger numbers. We will never travel through this airport again however convenient the flight.

The queuing through security times on a Monday am are getting worse by the week. I have been using the airport every week for 7 years and its not getting any better its getting worse. This morning the queues through security were the worst I've seen I went through the ticket machine and there were people directly in front of the machines. heaving great throngs of very unhappy faces. There were a total of 5 security machines not manned by staff. When is this being resolved its all well and good increasing flights from Stansted and the great work into the re-furbishment. However for the security to be so understaffed on key obvious peak times and days is a real failure. Customers holiday makers and business travellers being stressed out by huge queues is a very poor way to start your journey they are therefore unable to enjoy a coffee or shop at the new refurbed shops when they are stuck in security and have to hot foot to the departure gate. Its a very easy change to implement - more staff please. I work in a business where customer demand vs staff is key to the overall success of customer satisfaction. Its a simple process to get right. If you went to a shop / restaurant and were met with those queuing times and an obvious staff shortage to manage demand you will vote with your feet and not use them and walk out using another venue where your needs were met. However this is not a simple choice for the air travel. On a positive side great improvements elsewhere.

I've used Stansted since before the current buildings were opened and for years it was almost a delightful experience (for an airport) but since Manchester Airport took over it has gone just one way: downhill and very fast. The cost of parking has rocketed (£19 a day for long stay) the car park buses are now shared with JetParks and are absolutely jammed. They've built a ridiculously shiny new Duty Free shop which requires you to walk about a mile from security to the departure lounge all with the money they've made from parking. They even charge you  £2.50 to drop off so they must be making money faster than they can count it. But when it comes to landing after your holiday you are stuck on the plane after landing because they have no staff to unlock the arrivals doors. This has happened to me twice now. After 10 to 15 minutes you might be able to get off. Staffing at passport control is laughable well almost non-existent so this now takes 30-40 minutes. At the 'do it yourself' passports 3 out of 15 booths are in use and the single staff member is occupied with moving the barriers to accommodate the growing queue. By the time I got to the carousels the luggage was almost falling off it had been there so long. All in all it took an hour from landing just to get out of the airport. This is not a modern efficiently run airport it is an appalling experience for passengers and a cash cow for the owners. Yes bring back BAA the professionals.

Avoid travelling from Stansted if you can! I had to fly from this airport on 1 March 2015 with my 6 month old baby. I arrived at the airport at 15.00 my gate closed at 17.15. I just made it in time and was the last passenger to board the plane. To start with I needed to check the baby's car seat. Information on the screen just stated zone E desk 68-71. There was no one at those desks. Instead there were 3 other desks open no information displayed what flights are being checked in and no one to help. We joined the queue with people flying to Dublin Budapest and many other locations. Half an hour later we were stopped for another 20 minutes at the London underground barriers where you scan your boarding passes. There was only one official at the wide aisle gate and a massive queue of people who could not get through the barriers (everyone with buggies or whose boarding passes could not be scanned). Then we joined another massive queue to go through security. Many people were desperate as their flights were leaving soon crying and shouting for help to the marshals directing the queue. In all cases their reply was 'I can't do anything about it'. It took us about an hour to be cleared. Then a mad rush through a new serpentine of smelly perfume shops. I only noted the lack of seating in the lounge not that I had time to sit.. Our gate was 34. What a surprise it was to see a steep flight of stairs with no lift to get to the plane. Only thanks to the courtesy of other passengers did I manage to get the buggy down the steps. There were five (5) staff attending to buggies and none of them was willing to help hold my baby while I was folding the pushchair. It was very windy and it rained. We boarded the plane as last passengers soaked through. I have yet to fly back through Stansted and I already dread the experience. Avoid this joke of an airport if you can. I always used to arrive well ahead of time have a nice meal in Pontis (I did not seen it there anymore but might have missed it during my dash to boarding gate). Arrive at least 2 hours before your flight to avoid missing it!

On February 10th my family and I were due to travel on the 06.15 flight to Tenerife South (FR8166). We checked in on time and went through to the departure lounge and waited for our gate to be called. Once the gate opened we made our way to get on our flight with 5 children under the age of 10. The airport was extremely busy and we had to get on a monorail to catch our flight. As I'm sure you can imagine travelling with a large amount of children is hard work and when people are pushing and shoving it makes things that much more stressful. Due to us not being able to fit on the monorail and waiting for a long time for the next one we missed our flight by 4 minutes. Our family have never missed a flight before and this was all very new to us! I understand that we could have got to our gate quicker had we pushed and shoved like others but with the children it simply wasn't safe or possible. As I understand 30 other passengers missed their flight and the lady at the gate did say that she understood we were frustrated due to the monorail causing issues. We don't consider missing our flight to be our fault.