Luton Airport

I found this airport to be very busy but has improved a lot from recent months. The new car park looks at if it is coming along and it will be much better when that dual-carriage way opens. Being local this is the best airport for me and I don't mind using it. Only airport which is much better is Heathrow.

Chose to fly from Luton as it's nearest to home. As usual my experience is appalling, check-in / bag drop took an hour. Arriving back after 1.5 hours still no baggage on carousel, this is not unusual this has happened on numerous occasions. Was constantly flying to and from Malaga for work in the end it was quicker to drive the extra hour to Stansted than have the uncertainty about your onward travel plans.

Luton airport has reached an awful standard. Car park is not finished or is it? Chaos at the bus parking with reversing vehicles. The area outside the main entrance is great for secondary smoking, of which i'm not a great advocate. The security hall is no better. Arriving back, the same problem that exists at all the UK airports i've used. Queues for passport checks. The new electronic machines, only about a quarter of them working. Why can I get my passport read and checked quicker by a machine in Italy or Germany than I can when I get back to the UK? I have no choice to use Luton due to work but I would never chose to fly from here.

Without a doubt Luton airport has stopped putting their passengers first, and instead put their own greedy business interests first. The majority of access means a slog all the way to the airport on either public transport, or drop off so far away from the terminals thus trying to keep several large suitcases under control. Or paying an atrocious amount of money for a few minutes ‘drop off’ near the terminal. Disgusting. I am rather amazed they still offer ‘free’ toilet facilities inside the terminal, but that might change in the near future? If an alternative flight arrangement / departure / arrival point is available I would recommend take it to anyone considering traveling through this nightmare airport.

Do not choose Luton airport for London until the renovations are done. I flew back from Gdansk after departing from Stansted on the way. I chose to fly back into Luton because generally it is easier to get back home but oh boy how wrong was. We landed 20 minutes late despite departing on time. At first I wanted to blame the airline, but was quick to realise it was the fault of the airport scheduling too many flights at the same time. The issue of multiple flights landing with inappropriate infrastructure was highlighted. We were held in a very small hot corridor for 40 minutes. Following this we finally reached border control, where the line there also took 40 minutes. 4 desks out of 8 open which is appalling. We had booked a coach home scheduled to depart at 9:20pm when we were supposed to land at 8:00pm. Normally you would assume that you would be landed and out within 1 hour and 20 minutes but I guess not. In addition our back up plan was to get buses home, but we even missed those. I felt so ashamed that tourists would possibly meet London for the first time with this shambles service.

Arrived late into Luton due to flight delay - it took 2 hours for our bags to be on the belt for collection and there were 2 other flights that waited the same time. We were told this was due to a staff shortage - they don't care about the traveling person, if they did problems like this would not happen. We had same problem 2 flights ago. Take a tip - avoid Luton Airport.

We arrived by car on a busy Saturday morning in June, the airport was well signposted on from the M1. The Mid Term car park was well signed posted and easy to access (we had paid in advance). Although fairly full, there were spaces in easy reach of the free shuttle bus which arrived within minutes and dropped us off right at the departures entrance. Inside the airport was busy with a long queue at the easyJet gates. However, the queue was well managed by staff with extra gates opened to cope with demand and we were through baggage drop off within 20 minutes. There was a long queue for passport security, but we had paid £3.00 each for priority lane access and strolled through without a wait - best £6.00 ever spent at an airport. I admit to being a bit concerned after reading the reviews on this site, but in fairness I could not fault the experience.

To add some more info for the benefit of those luckless travellers contemplating using Luton Airport who've not been to it recently. Once you've arrived and heading for the check-in area, be aware that if you need a luggage trolley they expect you to fork out £2 for the "privilege" of taking one from a fixed rack and this is not refunded. This charge is disgraceful - most other airports we've been to worldwide offer luggage trolleys at no cost. So this initial experience within the airport is not a positive one, yet again. Then there's the wonderful picture of the newly developed airport costing £200 million (or whatever it is) - showing much the same layout of gates as before (with a few more gates) but all still with no covered ramps i.e. from its completion you'll still have to walk across the windswept tarmac in the pouring UK rain and up the steps, like way back in the 1950's.

Apart from the chaos which is the car park and building work outside and in, my main gripe with Luton Airport is with security. The queue was approximately 15 minutes. Not unusual, however, staff member managing the conveyors was unbelievably rude and deliberately difficult. Whilst the other lines moved relatively smoothly, ours was a mess. It seemed that every liquid bag was scrutinized and rejected sending people scurrying to the £1 bag vending machine. There was no order to people loading trays and then passing through the scanners meaning a flock of people waiting at the end of the conveyor for bags coming through in no particular order. My minimal possessions were split into 3 trays, each passed through separately with several other trays in between. As I passed through the scanner, my handbag (which was lying open due to rough handling) was still sat waiting to go through. I had to ask them to move it. I totally respect the jobs of the security staff at airports, and understand that they are there for our safety, however, politeness and care isn't too much to expect? On the positive side, our second visit to the Aspire lounge was as good as the first. Some lovely staff in there, and food and bar always well stocked.

Really slow, long queues both departing and arriving. It cannot cope with numbers. Even had to queue to get out of main building. Staff were trying their best and were generally helpful but they were over stretched. Luton is the worst airport I've used.