Luton Airport

Whoever is in charge of Luton airport should be ashamed. What was a good airport some years ago, is now in my opinion the worst and I have travelled through many. Last night we flew back to Luton arriving late at 00.30. After landing we sat on the taxi way for a long time because the ground crew were not expecting us. In the end, the captain of the plane disembarked and finally got us permission to leave the plane. Border Control as always at Luton was a complete shambles. The place was rammed and with so many very young and tired children in the queues it was annoying to see three Border Control staff stood talking and laughing alongside three empty booths. You would have thought given the time spent here our baggage would be waiting for us. When we got to the baggage hall there was no sign of our luggage and we waited for what turned out to be nearly one hour before it arrived. I felt sorry for the customer assistant who was nearly reduced to tears by some very irate and tired passengers from the Paphos and Faro flights. Her only reply to "where is our luggage" was "you were late and we were not expecting you" this from what is supposed to be a international airport. Finally the short stay Carpark is not fit for purpose. I am amazed that on health and safety grounds that it is allowed to function, it is an accident waiting to happen. I am adamant that after flying from this airport for many years that I will not do so ever again.

I've been coming to this airport very often, cause like it or not, many convenient low-cost flights depart from there. I always thought the things that previous negative reviewers mentioned, however I did not complain cause they're under building and expanding developments. The huge issue I have is the under-trained staff, totally rude and disrespectful. What happened to me, is when I was about to travel for an urgent work-related trip, and I missed my flight! Apart from the fact that the airline (which I won't mention, cause is not related with the argument) changed the departure time on the screen 3 times (the last time by the way, was written gloriously "estimated departure time", personally never saw it in my life. Usually I've seen "delayed"). In any case at the designated gate where my flight was, they told me to go to gate 6. They didn't explain why but I went there hoping for a solution. I get there, a totally isolated area with some gates and an info desk surrounded by 6-7 employees chatting with each other (basically doing nothing while being paid). I rush there asking for some help. Nobody responded until I said, "Excuse me can somebody talk to me?" and a girl nodded (all of them looking at me in a totally intimidating way). I explained my that I missed my flight and told me to come here. She said, "yes, we will call somebody to pick you up in order to book a new flight at the check in area". I was so stressed, however I said "ok" and was about to sit down and wait. At that moment another girl sitting at the actual seat of the desk, told me with a very dictating tone "actually, whatever you purchased from the airport's shops you go and return them, and then come back and then we'll get you back to the check-in area". I really felt like screaming at her, listen girl, I am supposed to be booking a new flight right now!, however I said nothing and went back to the shops to return them. Long story short, the women at the shops were telling me that this is not right and that they never heard that before, and called a general customer service person. That person told me that this applies only for alcoholic products, so it did not apply for me! We went together back at gate 6, he told them they were wrong and I stayed waiting for another 40 minutes (they said 10 minutes but then I pointed them out that the time was passing so they had to call that person again which she didn't know she was supposed to come and pick me up) cause they probably felt that I had the time of the world. I basically lost an hour and 15 minutes with their nonsense. No basic training whatsoever.

Toilets filthy and smell. Drinks/bars look aged, stressed staff. Security experience was traumatic. Treated like cattle in a market, herded, kept waiting with no explanation. Rude staff, ignoring customers who were stressed already and bags kept from them with no explanation. We will wait patiently and accept being searched, humiliated in front of others but please treat us like fellow human beings. Provide areas which are clean and cool. Toilets which are clean. Go and visit Geneva airport. They have pride in their jobs, smile and are professional.

✅ Verified Review | There are no timetables in suitable positions. If you are mistaken with gate, there is no timetable on the way to correct the mistake. There are no signs for speedy boarding. You have to "figure it out" yourself. Once at the entrance, people rush and squeeze because of two departures at the same gate at the same time. Feels like a cow rushing at the "Chicago's butchery" without knowing what to expect.

Dangerous multi story car park at Luton airport. It looks like a construction site with some levels rushed open. After parking there are no signs for pedestrians to the terminal. It looks like access is only from floor 2. There is a staircase between levels where the doors open directly onto a traffic lane with just a painted box on the floor to try to keep vehicles clear - not good enough.

✅ Verified Review | I selected Luton Airport as the jet off point for my holiday to Rome with my partner purely based on the price of the flights. Monarch offered the cheapest rate to Fiumicino and I live a considerable distance from any of the major airports flying to Rome so thought nothing of it. It's a shame that the airport was little more than a grandiose construction site at the time we arrived. We parked in the furthest parking point and a helpful, regular shuttle service carried us to the terminal. The entrance to the airport is best described as chaos. Heavy machinery is tearing the vast majority of the drop-off to pieces and there are several haphazard market stools lined up outside. Upon entering, you pass through an initial entrance check before making it to the main security section. Security is remarkably small and unfortunately took longer than expected (plus is quite crowded given the quantity of passengers passing through). However, the staff were friendlier than I had anticipated and made the experience painless. The usual duty free ablutions are all there before expanding into the departure lounge. It shows that Luton flies more passengers than it really has capacity to handle as it was somewhat of a fight to get seating space near the bars or in any of the waiting areas. Next time I would consider investing in one of the Lounges for a more relaxed start to the journey. There are is a good selection of duty free shops and restaurants varying from quick bites to full sit down dinner services. I was surprised at the lack of fast food chains there. The facilities were clean and modern, obviously well looked after. After hearing the flight called out, there is only one direction in which to go to leave Departures and it leads straight to all the gates. Though largely down to the efficiency of the staff, the boarding process through the gate was quick. Sadly we were left standing around down a flight of stairs while they finished preparing the plane for us to embark which was a bit shoddy. Entrance to the plane is done with stairs in this airport, no fancy bridges. Overall, I found the airport serviceable but unremarkable. It's clearly too cramped for the volume of passengers it sees (which is probably why the construction work is taking place) but it does the job. The simplicity of the lay out is helpful as well.

✅ Verified Review | The worst airport I have ever encountered, it is difficult to find, always being redeveloped, crowded and generally unclean. It's embarrassing that this is the first impression that visitors get to our country I only fly from here as a necessity rather than by choice.

The worst airport I have encountered for years. There is a combination of poor management, poor design, lack of seating and insufficient space for passengers. Eating areas are filthy and understaffed. Passengers are pushed through into departure areas too soon as there are no proper departure gates with seating. We were sent to board the plane but stood for about 20 minutes on the stairs with no explanation. Don't they teach staff that the most important thing they should do when things go wrong is to communicate. This is an airport with serious problems requiring a new management team.

✅ Verified Review | Luton airport is one of the worst I have been to. The airport looks very tired. The walking way from the gate to the customs was very long. There was no electric walkway on the way. It was crowded. The lighting was dark. It does not seem to be clean either. I did not try the toilet either. The two sides of the road was dirty and full of dirt. The queuing time was not long, only around 15-20 minutes although there were only 2 people working at the customs to do the checking. I believe the queue would be much longer in other times. I was just lucky that time.

✅ Verified Review | Truly awful experience this morning being herded through this airport - the only things missing were cattle prods. The staff were rude, shouting at everyone, the whole airport was dirty and crowded. The only redeeming feature were the lovely staff at Pret A Manger.