London Stansted Airport

There is a very common theme to these reviews one which is mirrored by two recent personal experiences - deterioration of standards stress unacceptable queuing herding - in fact the only thing missing is the cattle prod and one suspects that these would be part of the kit if legal! Five weeks ago I missed a flight due to ineptitude in security and yesterday witnessed the chaos at passport control utterly pathetic! Take my advice - pay a bit more and go elsewhere Stansted Airport would be better named Standstill Airport. I won't be returning!

Total joke would rather not go than fly from Stansted again - just cannot believe how it can have been allowed to turn in to the shambles it is now. Who is responsible for this turnaround from a pleasant start to a flight and return to a experience closer to getting in to a football match thirty years ago.

I travelled through Stansted this weekend - the functional and beautiful airport building is wrecked - totally compromised to squeeze every last pound or euro from the cattle (oh sorry people) passing through it. It's an appalling customer experience. There is no consideration to passengers trying to make it to their gate after being fed through a security check that feels like a cattle market. You have to negotiate the convoluted path of shops that doubles back on itself in order to squeeze out the last metre of selling space. The message is clear - spend spend spend. I travelled through Manchester airport three years ago and swore never again - now the same money making machine has arrived in Essex run by a business that has forgotten its purpose in the effort of making as much money as possible from the people that pass through it. When we got back after a weekend away the queues for passport control were shameful - perhaps not the airport's fault I've no idea but the wait just added to my impression of an airport that doesn't value its customers anymore except when it can extract another pound from their pocket.

Over the years as Stansted has expanded I have marvelled at its growth and must have used the airport at least 30 times over the last 12 years. Alas the last two years have seen a serious decline in customer service especially at passport control where the service is getting so bad I have decided I will now look at other airports in favour of Stansted whenever possible. Last night Sept 29 was a nightmare. Landed at 11.30pm and spend the next one hour and twenty minutes being herded like cattle by rude incompetent staff in the most horrendous queues I have ever faced anywhere. It was 30 minutes before we even got a sight of where passport control was then finally after this enormous wait to face passports machines that don't work for some and are so slow when they do. Also the guy trying to speed up the line was useless making matters much worse and letting people jump the queue. Finally got through dying to use the toilet - what a disgrace. Checked every hour - I don't think so. Such a shame. I'm sure Stansted will say unusual clashing of flight arrivals etc but regular travellers will know better - a sad decline of a once great airport and public facility we were once proud of.

We have just queued at border control for 90 minutes this is totally unacceptable. Will try not to use Stansted in future. Not fit for purpose!

Appalling. On the way out all passengers have to endure a narrow half mile trek through perfumes (one in 1000 wanting to actually buy) to get to the original concourse so dimly lit you couldn't possibly even read a paper. On the way back it was a 2 hour queue to get to passports - very dangerous as 1000's of passengers stood in the access corridors. Reason: several flights landed at once. This is totally unacceptable for a modern airport. Staff harassed and only one poor girl on the e passport desks and she just about gave up. Hundreds and hundreds must have missed link transport and it was after 2am that we got through from an 11.30 arrival! Utterly disgraceful. Get your act together Stansted this is awful.

Saturday night 27th September was horrendous coming back into Stansted from Malaga. On exiting from the transit the queues from passport control were out on to the platform. Everyone was herded into the E-passport side and the cattle market trail began. It took us 45 mins to get through our flight was already late and even though we had only hand luggage we still managed to miss the last bus and train and had to get a taxi home! The security for departures has improved but the passport control is a joke - 2 people and English isn't their first language managing hordes of frustrated passengers with less than half the electronic booths open older people were exhausted. All the airports abroad are a joy compared to this joke!

Why cant the Border Force have sufficient staff to cope with the known number of passengers arriving. Ridiculous long queues last night nearly 2 hours from disembarking to passing through the passport control. Is it only Britain that suffers as most other countries seem to cope.

Is it a requirement of passport check officers to be po faced and downright rude? A minuscule nod of the head summoned me to the desk - passport is scrutinised. "Where have you come from?" "Show me your boarding pass." Luckily I had not binned it onboard with my other litter. He carefully scrutinised my passport and my face again before slapping it down on the desk for me to take back. I am an innocuous 65 yr old law abiding granny and UK citizen. Such a bad impression for visitors to our country. His counterpart in France smiled said thank you and wished me a pleasant journey - and all in English too! Take note Stansted.. courtesy costs nothing and you are public servants - civil servants you are not alas.

Flew out from Stansted on 22nd Sept and was very pleased with facilities and ease of going through security. We returned late on 29th. What a miserable experience that was. It took nearly 2 hours from landing to getting through passport control. Long queues in small confined areas surrounded by hundred and hundred of people. Travelling from Gatwick to Essex would have been a quicker overall return home. Thank goodness for civilised passengers because inefficient passport control could have caused a disaster.