Luton Airport

I have used this airport for about 10 years, generally for pick up or drop off, I have always intended to leave a review somewhere but never bothered. However my experience was so bad today that I had to. This is easily the worst I have ever used anywhere in the world. Parking is atrocious, 25 mins to find a space, it's a dirty and depressing place. It has been like this for years, some CEO or head of department had allowed this state of affairs and will be getting a bonus for keeping costs down, arrive early because the traffic getting into the airport is phenomenal. If the airport my in-laws fly from ever link up with Heathrow, Gatwick or anywhere else I will never come here again. I am ashamed this is someone's first impression of our country.

✅ Verified Review | The worst managed airport in the world. Here's my experience: Check in opens: 03.15am, departure gates open 03.30am, security checks - there are 10 conveyer belts, however only two were open. Queues took approx. 45 mins, flight was at 06.00am, boarding closes at 05.35am, however boarding gate numbers were not released until 05.20am. 5-10minute walk to the boarding gate. Advice: make sure you arrive at least 3hrs before departure, even if you only carry hand luggage and have checked in online. The airport is the most poorly managed I have ever seen. Two years ago I missed my flight, as it took over an hour to get through security, due to the same issue: only two conveyer belts in action.

If you can avoid. Luton Airport specialises in queues. Leave plenty of time to arrive because traffic is bad. On two occasions now I have abandoned my taxi and walked up to the terminal building. The wait for Security check is long and if you arrive on a flight the queue for passport control is crazy with people arriving from all directions to clear passport control. Lots of building work taking place. Demolish the place and build something more suitable for the volumes of people using the place.

This airport is too small for the volume of passengers going onto it. You have to queue to get into the airport by road. The car parks resemble a building site. It has no railway station. It appears to be a hub for air travel to eastern Europe through an airline called 'Wizz Air'. There were hardly any seats available airside and the queue in WH Smiths had approx. 40 people in it. We spent the best £50 ever to go into the executive lounge (Aspire) to avoid this chaos. Avoid if you can and use Gatwick or Heathrow. Appalling place.

Avoid this airport at all costs. The staff are rude and do not even seem to know their own jobs. Leaving Luton through the scrum that is security the staff could not agree how to send people through the body scanner, my six year old daughter was made to stand on her own as the member of staff argued with her colleague over how to send holiday makers over to her once she was through I asked 2 members of staff where my daughters shoes were as the had not come through the scanner, both ignored me. Then on the return journey to land late at night and have to que for almost an hour to get though passport control with no information and the staff barking orders to very tired passengers without giving any clear explanation as to why it is taking so long, some parents having to carry their children as how can you expect a small baby or child to stand in a line for so long without getting upset. To find there are only 4 people checking passports, surely the airport knew there was a large number of people going to be landing at the same time! Then after all this to leave the airport to get a taxi to find the directions to the taxi rank end at a dead end. A member of staff informed us in his words "yeah it is a mess, but what can we do!" Never fly from this bad excuse of an airport it is a disgrace to the country.

My easyJet flight from Glasgow was going great - until we arrived at Luton. Me and 39 other passengers waited 45 minutes for our luggage at the carousel. The toilets were filthy, with no paper and water all over the floor and toilet seats, plus we had to wait for staff to open them up. There were no signs directing you to the bus for the Luton Parkway, and the queue was enormous. It took me 90 minutes from landing at Luton to get to the airport train station, and so I missed connecting trains and arrived very late at my destination. Worst airport I've ever seen. It's like a vortex of passenger misery and rage. Avoid at all costs!

Our party arrived at Luton Airport in a minibus (12 of us). Immediately we had to pay £3 for a drop off which took less than 2 minutes with 10 cases. I then had to fork out £4 for 2 trollies (2 x £2) so £7 and I haven't even left the car park. We had 2 disabled people in our party and a baby, so in total we had 6 adults and 6 children (2 adults in wheelchairs). Once inside we went to special assistance who wouldn't take our cases as there were too many of us, so directed us to easyJet bag drop, but directed us the wrong way. Having then off loaded the luggage we made our way to passport control and security. They said we couldn't take the trolley carrying the hand luggage, so my 13 year old son was sent back outside the terminal with the trolley (we couldn't go back to help him). Then the security guard started shouting at us to move along, I immediately shouted back that we had disabled people and a child who wasn't through passport control, but this fell upon deaf ears. During all this confusion I forgot to remove my iPad from my bag until the last minute - what a palaver that turned out to be. Then as expected they took my daughters baby milk off for swabbing (I have no issue with this) however 20 minutes later it hadn't been returned and when I enquired where it was (I could see it on the table) I was told "sorry the agent forgot about it". Anyway by now we are in the departures hall, baking hot, nowhere to sit, queues miles long everywhere and overpriced drinks. This airport is an absolute joke inside and out, rude, ignorant and arrogant staff. I wont even start about my arrival as this was equally diabolical with 1.5 hour wait for our bags at 2am.

Madness. Friday 2nd Sept. I parked in the 15 minute free parking car park, located just before the bridge. After 13 minutes I went to leave, the barrier clock was 8 minutes slow. This caused problems as if you don't check the time, upon arrival you will incur a charge. Picking a family member up at the pick up point is even more manic. The queue from the pay barrier is so long it took another 25 minutes to get out. The charge for the first 15 minutes is £3. However for every 1 minute they charge £1.00. Outrageous. Whilst Luton is undertaking massive changes, there should be a fixed £3 charge even after 25 minutes. Place airport Marshalls at pickup point to stop drivers abusing the system.

✅ Verified Review | Appalling delays at passport control and baggage reclaim. Lack of communication as to why the delays/how long to expect. I cannot believe some poor souls actually have to commute from this place. It's not a functioning airport and should not be allowed to operate under current conditions. I just hope no first time visitors to UK experience this place. Avoid.

Steer clear of this airport if you can. Horrendous delays for pick up and drop off and this includes the buses from the carparks. Queing also to get out and have to pay £3. Cramped in the shopping area with too few seats, Builders drilling noise too here. On return the fans in the corridor from the gate were covered in streams of dust and met with even more delays to be picked up. Chaotic.