London Stansted Airport

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 920 reviews
2/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Long queues at security yesterday morning >30 minutes to get through. Virtually all belts open. Doesn't look like the new facility can cope with the passenger volume even now and it's just opened. Then had to wait 20 minutes on the tarmac outside the Ryanair flight to Dublin whilst waiting for a wheelchair to arrive to take off a disabled passenger from the inbound flight. Poor organisation and administration by both Ryanair and the airport? Just as well it wasn't raining. Inbound OK later in the evening although surely there could be a better system than having to get on the buses just to avoid passport control?
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I refuse to use Stansted Airport since MAG has taken it over and are systematically ruining it. Lord Foster who designed it designed it be a straight through airport so you walk in one direction through the terminal. Now as you enter the airport you are confronted by a wave of passengers traversing the terminal to the security areas at the southern end of the airport. This area is like something out of Communist era with about as much charm and efficiency to match. And for what? So that more retail outlets can be built that nobody wants. When will Uk airports learn that what passengers want and need is to get through them easily and efficiently. We do not go to airports to shop we go to them to travel and I take great offence at being forced through retail areas directly after security. I also take huge offence at being asked to present my boarding card if I wish to buy a newspaper or a packet of mints. Is it any wonder that there are queues and delays with this unnecessary nonsense. I always refuse. Arriving into Stansted is a lottery with its pathetic Border Control area. In the half hour or so you stand and queue you can amuse yourself by watching the Border Control officers looking down on the queues and the unmanned gates and think "why don't you do something useful and come and open an additional gate rather than looking at your clipboard?" But the key thing about Stansted is that is unnecessary to use it. Travel Southend London City or even Heathrow. They are all light years better than Stansted and any airport not run by MAG is a must.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I was due to leave on a 6.45 am Ryanair flight (the only convenient carrier - not by choice) so stayed overnight at the airport hotel (Radisson). As I had a boarding pass and only hand luggage I assumed that 5.30am would be early enough to go through security. I did not pay extra for fast track as I thought this would be unnecessary at this time in the morning. Big mistake. I arrived to find a football match-style crush at the entrance to security with no sign of any airport staff to control or direct what could have been a dangerous crush. I eventually had to ask other passengers to let me go ahead to avoid missing my flight. This is the worst organisation I have seen at any airport in many years of flying all over the world. If you must travel through Stansted I would strongly recommend purchase of fast track/speedy boarding if available.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness N/A
Airport Shopping N/A
no
2/10

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

We travelled out and back into Stansted to and from Berlin. We chose Stansted because of price after not using the airport for several years due to previously bad experiences. On the way out was pleasant and effective although quite slow but nothing to complain about. Nice transfer from Hilton by bus convenient and easy. On the way back was a completely different story and the exact reason why I stopped using Stansted 5 years ago. The plane arrived 40 mins late so around 11.35pm the stairs arrived but no ground staff 20 minutes in and people getting quite annoyed late at night and a lot of people having connections to meet. When we were allowed off and boarded the bus we arrived at the drop off point where the bus driver had to get out and open the doors into the terminal for us with his pass. The queue along the corridor to access an escalator was shocking due to other planes arriving at the same time and the passport control was absolutely rammed. We used the e-passport gate which was poorly supervised and with one of the 5 out of order a lot slower than any other. Surely Stansted should have a much bigger number of these units given the growing number of e-passports and make sure they are well supervised! When I did use it the man at the front had to come out of his booth and ask me to get out of the booth because I had my bag on my shoulder it thought I was two people. In summary there is good reason why East Midlands Birmingham Luton and Heathrow remain head and shoulders above this airport. Maybe ownership has changed in 2013 but the management of the airport still seems poor and the infrastructure needs to get up to date with technology to stop looking like they are trying to fit a pint and a half into a pint pot. Small things could have made this delay well managed and the airport experience could have been positive but this is not what Stansted are good at.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
3/10

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

What a shambles at passport control. Two hours to get through. Why allow five planes to land in a short space of time and discharge passengers into the same small area.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I returned to London Stansted earlier today (Sunday 29th June) and experienced the same ridiculous situation of being kept waiting in basement corridors for over 45 minutes as other passengers had experienced. There was no meaningful communication. The cause appears to be the lack of adequate space in the Passport Control waiting area on the Ground Floor. Basically Stansted Airport is not 'fit for purpose' i.e. it cannot cope with the volume of passengers arriving at peak times. They can blame the Border Agency's procedures if they wish but the basic truth is they are trying to accommodate more flights than their infrastructure can cope with. The other passengers I spoke with were all of the same opinion which was that they would now avoid using Ryanair/Stansted wherever possible. Maybe we passengers need to actively boycott this airport until a solution to this unacceptable situation is implemented by the management company.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
1/10

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I have to agree with everyone else who has posted terrible reviews of the queuing at passport control at Stansted - it is an utter disgrace. I waited in line with my American wife at the 'Non-EU' queue and it took well over an hour to get through passport control with only 2 members of staff constantly allocated to dealing with non-EU travellers which at midnight last night constituted a queue of at least 300 people (in my estimation). Queues for both EU and non-EU passengers stretched right to the back of the room and the entire experience was utterly painful.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

12.30pm June 20th. On arriving and without warning we were held in the corridor downstairs from passport control for over an hour then once upstairs in passport control we waited another 45 minutes to clear passport control. While in the corridor there were no announcements for over 25 minutes. When a passenger announcement was made it simply said "It is necessary to hold passengers at this time. Thank you The UK Boarder Agency". No explanation was given for the delay or how long we would be held there. As more and more flights arrived and disembarked into the terminal the queue went all the way back into the lower arrivals gates. After shuffling the length of the queue to use the toilet - some 150meters back - I alerted airport workers that the queue was dangerously close to reaching the bottom of the down escalator near the gates. A quick thinking worker used the emergency shut-off switch to avoiding passengers from piling on top of those in the queue at the bottom of the escalator. The workers were until then unaware of the queue or closing of the Passport Control. Ryanair workers were equally unaware and or unconcerned and said this happened regularly. The Boarder Agency staff member who cleared me blamed Ryanair for landing it's flights all at once. Passenger safety and the reputation of the airport and the airlines that use it are at stake. Yet in all this time there were no explanations announcements or apologies of any kind from anyone involved. Not the UK Boarder Agency Ryanair nor MAG (Manchester Airport Group). Clearly there is little or no communication or co-operation between them and no responsibility for passengers in these incidents. However it is Manchester Airport Group who operate the airport and have the responsibility for passengers while in the airport - They could have at least made an announcement to explain what had happened and to apologise for the delay howsoever caused. Maybe it will take an injury or a passenger revolt before it is taken seriously. As Ryanair have never valued "passenger experience" - so we expect little responsibility from them. The UK Boarder Agency is essentially unaccountable to anyone and would never own up to any responsibility. The experience of being held for the better part of 2 hours is not one paying passengers expect these days. It cannot be beyond the wit of the airport to manage these situations better. Totally unacceptable. I will be doing my best to avoid Stansted in the future at all costs.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Returned on Wednesday noon June 18th. Queued in a corridor for 35/40 mins as passport control could not cope once upstairs at passport control waited over an hour to go through and I was in the comical fast track e-passport line. This new and quicker automated procedure was in fact twice slower as it took much longer to actually check the passport and caused enormous confusion and stress for many passengers. Many were concerned because there baggage was waiting for over an hour. Crazy having to queue so long when you are returning to your own country. Then had to wait over 30 mins for the bus to car park! 2 hours 30 mins to get from plane to car park? Totally ridiculous and unacceptable. I will be doing my best to avoid stansted in the future at all costs.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness N/A
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

London Stansted Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

I travelled from Stansted on 6 June 2014 and I will never do so again. It was by far the most awful airport experience I have had in a first-world country with horrendous queues to go through a very inadequate number of security points and then more horrendous queues on the airside for anyone unfortunate enough to want to grab a coffee before their flight. The entire place is hopelessly overcrowded. If you have to travel from here make sure you leave yourself at least an hour to get through security.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no