Luton Airport

This tin-pot airport just managed to get worse. Due to an hour's delay because the baggage belt broke down, our taxi waited in the magnificent drop-off/pick-up cash generating area ticking up many more pounds for Luton Airport, payable to get out of this awful place. Having eventually retrieved our luggage we had to navigate the new serpentine route to the pick-up area caused by major remodelling works seemingly providing a delightful new shopping experience for airport users. Luton airport is a very unpleasant place, poorly managed and with a business model predicated on screwing the maximum revenue out of passengers, without a care for their travelling comfort or overall experience.

What a shambles, building work still ongoing. Queue for the ladies toilets almost went into the external corridor. On departure the assisted service appeared to be under pressure and not very good at communicating what was happening. On the return back one lady member of staff did not appear too keen to push a wheelchair and left two clients to make their own way after vacating the hydraulic lifting kit. We use as it is the most local regional airport but would think twice and consider others such as Birmingham

Do not use this airport. Passport control surprisingly quick. Then the problems began. Baggage started to appear, but on wrong belt, belt then broke. Baggage started appearing on another, also wrong, belt. This one broke too. Eventually the only one working was the right one, with no baggage on it. In the end, over an hour later, we found the last one of our bags sitting unattended in the middle of the floor where it had been dumped by staff. Then only the mile walk through a building site to the 'drop off' point where our taxi had been waiting at huge expense. Avoid.

Arrived at Luton Airport long term car park at 4.30.am, Caught the shuttle bus at stop no 3 at 4.50, the bus was now full and did not stop at the next bus stops, leaving people stranded. To be fair I did hear the driver radio that in. Traffic a nightmare even at 5 in the morning. A very long slow queue to drop a bag, but staff pleasant and helpful. Long delays at security with the staff being very stony faced. Everywhere was so crowded. Just managed to find somewhere to sit and have a coffee, others "budged" up a bit, then, off to the gate, up stairs, downstairs, then hurry up and wait, no where to sit! Flight left on time. Return we waited 10 minutes for stairs to the plane, then off into main building, up stairs, down stairs. A very long queue at passport 20 mins, then 10 min wait for luggage. On the other side of baggage I went to the men`s toilet, only 3 cubicles (no urinals) 1 not working so that left 2 with long queues and comments about the cleanliness. I decided to see if there were any other toilets near by and asked one of the airport workers. His reply: "Try the train station its about 4 mile that way". Why do these people "work" in these places if they hate it so much. The driver of the bus to return to the car park, after waiting nearly 25 minutes (not 15 as advertised), as I got on the bus he closed the doors - he had not really moved from the kerb when a elderly couple appeared. He could have stopped (he was hardly moving) and let them on. All in all not good, compounded by despite pre booking car parking put ticket in and asked me for £189.70 - pressed the button, asked for ref number and told its a mistake. The driver of the car in the next bay was experiencing the same as me, also 2 other members of my party had the same "mistake". I won't use Luton Airport again.

Read the reviews of Luton Airport, which were scary and wasn't sure of my decision to use this airport. To my surprise, bag check was efficient and there was no wait at all to clear security. The airport was a little sparse until we passed through security and then we reached the departure waiting area. There were very nice shops and food outlets in this area and we found a place to sit and enjoy a nice snack while waiting for our boarding call. Washrooms were clean and ultra modern. The area was bright and cheery. We were called to the gate area and after a short wait of about 10 minutes, we were able to board. All in all a pleasant experience.

I cannot believe a airport so busy as Luton Airport, lacks in all ways. Dirty looking in arrival and departure halls, too many steps, up and down. I feel ashamed when arriving at better airports abroad, travelators and welcoming decor. Unfortunately Luton is convenient from our home, only reason we use it,

Kept waiting on a flight of stairs, only to enter a departure gate that was way too small for the allocated flight without enough seating. Arrivals was much much worse with half of e-passport scanners out of service and long delays. Male toilets in arrivals had urine on the floor, and smelt awful. Long delays for baggage. Luton Airport could not have got it more wrong. The management team really need to go back to basics and rethink it operational management and customer experience.

A truly disgraceful experience. From start to finish, this feels like anywhere but the UK. From parking in building site like conditions, to horrendous toilet facilities to an hour long queue to clear immigration with total confusion and chaos and nearly half the immigration booths closed, I am ashamed to think this is how thousands of people every day arrive to this country.

Awful on all counts. If you have the misfortune to be flying from here leave a lot of time. There was one person on the Ryanair bag drop for four flights. Security took 35 mins to clear. Nowhere to sit due to overcrowding. Toilets disgusting and no loo roll. On return there wasn't anyone to marshal the plane to the stand. No one came to position the steps and the baggage took an hour to get to the belt. Don't bother complaining either. I'm still waiting for a reply after a month!

Issues raised by other reviewers are valid - (a) Rough open air short-term park. Spaces hard to find. Quite long walk navigating moving vehicles. Priority short-term park was closed (for refurbishment, I guess). (b) Very crowded departure area. (c) Long queue for passport check before getting to departure gate. (d) No seating at departure gate. Better (a) New area for security check so not much queuing. Pre-paid priority access was unnecessary. (b) Passport check on return was quite speedy for us old-style passport holders. Longer time for e-passport holders. But It is an airport for budget airlines. So if I want the cheaper fares, I'll still accept its limitations.