Luton Airport

✅ Verified Review | Well not sure where to start, landed at Luton airport flying from Sofia, Sunday afternoon (24/4/2016). Wheelchair assistance was booked well in advance. My elderly father and myself who are both disabled waited for wheelchair assistance, a woman came and asked if my father could walk down the stairs, she was not happy when I said no and we waited 30 mins until the assistance vehicle arrived. We eventually disembarked from the vehicle to go through boarder control, guess what no wheelchairs, so had to wait another 10mins for them to bring one to use. To top this off I personally had to push him (I myself use a walking stick). I managed to go through border control, then had to go and find our luggage, our carousel had already finished and I found our suitcases standing in the middle of the departure lounge unattended.

A national disgrace. This airport is not fit for purpose. The queues for security took over 45 mins. Understaffed security and this makes the staff manning the scanners abrupt and miserable. Toilets small, not clean. Drop off area to small, confused with pick up too. Avoid this airport if you can.

Although my wife and I use Luton either once or twice a year we normally fly out in the afternoon, and so having booked a flight departing at 7.00 a.m. on Friday 8th April, during the school holiday, we were rather nervous of what to expect in view of the avalanche of negative reports on this site about Luton in the morning peak. It was clear from the numbers waiting for the shuttle in the Mid-term car park at 5.15 a.m. that it was going to be a busy morning, and when we reached it fifteen minutes later the terminal was teeming with humanity. However the EasyJet bag drop was efficient and the £3 each for the priority lane through security was money well spent. On reaching the airside facilities, yes it was very busy indeed but, having left our airport hotel too early for breakfast, a look at the various food outlets revealed that we could have found somewhere to sit at each of them. In the end we opted for Frankie and Benny's and, despite having to join a queue of seven or eight for a table we were seated, ordered, ate a cooked breakfast, paid and were out again within less than 40 minutes of first joining the queue, and given how busy the restaurant was you can't argue with that. There were plenty of departure screens and announcements were all clear. Passengers have to stand in a queue for boarding but we started to board within a few minutes of the gate number being displayed. On our return the airport was noticeably quieter (we landed at 5.15 p.m.) but having cleared passport control, collected our case from the baggage carousel and made our way back to the car park using the shuttle bus we were getting into the car exactly 35 minutes after the plane touched down, which was most impressive. Five minutes later and we were heading back up the M1. No complaints at all, quite the reverse. We shall certainly continue to use Luton.

My flight with Monarch arrived 15 mins early but we then had to wait 15 minutes for a bus to take us to the terminal, on a cold wet night this wasn't good. We had the usual queues at passport control but what really caused so much frustration with my fellow travellers was the wait at luggage collection. The aircraft came to a halt at 11.10pm, the luggage started to come through at 12.05 am. The area was overcrowded with lots of crying young children and no staff present to provide any information. Then our driver couldn't find a way out of the building site that they call a car park and I couldn't blame given the chaotic state of the site. It is one of the worst airport experiences I have had.

Had cause to travel from UK to Ireland and Luton had the most convenient connection to central London by Rail and the most convenient flights to the South of Ireland. The Parkway Rail station is poorly signed and the transfer bus is expensive, crammed and the drivers are rude. This should be free. The check-in at Ryanair was efficient and courteous but failed to see that my allowance was 20Kg and not 15Kg. It was as clear as day on the ticket. At security the place was jam packed. However the majority of the staff were doing their best and were quite pleasant. The gates are far away and there was no travelator en-route. There were no seats available for the so-called "Priority" passengers who have paid enough to at least sit down for 30 minutes at the gate. On the way back it took longer to get my bag from the belt than it took to actually fly from Ireland. Then onto the dreadful bus - more money - and to the poorly signed station.

Luton is one of the worst airports I've ever used. Poor signage, dirty toilets, meet and greet location is a terrible joke requiring a long walk from the airport. Arrived on a Friday evening to very long queues at passport control. So long that the queue stretched all the way to the top of the escalator that led from from the arrival gate. As the escalator was still running people were pushing into those at the back of the queue so they could get off the escalator. The whole scene at passport control was chaotic with overwhelmed and inadequate staffing. Along with the other issues at this airport it gives a very poor first impression to any overseas visitors to this country.

This is the first time I have used Luton for quite a while and the first time I have used it for a trip longer than 1 day. I will never use Luton again. There are no convienent trolleys available where you park your car in short term parking or for Meet and Greet, when to you do manage to find one they cost £2.00 and are no where near where you need one. This is a cost not a deposit as at other airports. On our return the Meet and Greet was at the very far end of the short term car park over bumpy terrain so trolleys don't run smoothly, and not very well marked so we spent lots of time searching for it at midnight. Luckily it was not raining otherwise it would have been even more difficult.

An airport that goes out of its way to make your experience worse. Easily the worst airport I have used, and I have used most UK airports, as well as major and regional airports across Europe, South America and Africa. Most airport staff try to be helpful. Some are indifferent. Only at Luton do they go out of their way to be rude and unhelpful. As an example, on my most recent passage through this most unpleasant airport, the baggage scanner insisted on scanning my bag 14 bags after scanning my laptop and coat. This not only inconvenienced me, but several others in the queue as a result of the congestion at the end of the baggage scan. Things got a little better in the departures lounge - with staff attitudes lifting to bored indifference. This time, I could not avoid Luton, but will go out of my way to do so in the future.

The one and only time I have had to use Luton Airport I was forced to pay £2.50 for the privelege of dropping off a group of school children going on a trip. Blatent revenue generation for every person dropping off family. I must have been there for less than 30 seconds. It's not the money but the principle. Shame on you, whoever is responsible for providing such service. If you want to attract customers, this is not the way to do it.

We landed ahead of schedule (positive comment for Monarch). At nearly midnight, we were the last and only flight to land. So had all of the airports facilities dedicated to us, or so you would think. We parked remotely and then there was no ground crew. No marshalls to guide the plane onto the stand and then no one with steps so we could de-plane. We were 100 yards from the entry door, but had to get a bus that went half way round the airport to get us back to close to where we started. I know it's safety and all that, but it goes to show how poorly the airport is laid out and managed. Give customs their due, we flew through their, but even they asked me where we had been, as they were expecting us sooner. And then the wait for the cases. Reminder, we are the only plane active at this time. We cheered when they finally came out. One hour from landing to exiting the terminal. Okay I've heard of worse, but we were the only plane. Just goes to show how poor this airport is. Lets not even go there with the ridiculous charge to drop off/pick up and the distance this is from the terminal. The never ending construction work, which is not improving the customer experience. You pick a local airport for the convenience, this is no longer happening at Luton. Might as well pay a bit more for the flight, but this is offset by the experience. I also had to pay as supplement to the taxi company for waiting time. Luton airport has lost the plot, it deserves it poor rating. I'm off to Heathrow.