Luton Airport

I flew out of Luton last Thursday 17th July mid-morning. From my experience I entirely fail to see why so many people slate this airport. The only negative was the queuing to get off the M1 due to the roadworks and that is not the fault of the airport! I used an off airport car park called Central Car Storage it cost £30 for 6 days and is only 4 min from the terminal. Very easy quick and no hassle. Security was a breeze maybe 5 mins waiting and friendly and efficient staff. One of our bags was picked out for extra screening and this was handled in a professional manner. I would recommend Pret a Manger as the best place airside to kill time. They do a nice coffee for 99p (definitely the cheapest I have found in any airport or railway station recently) have quite comfortable chairs and a nice view of the runway. None of the departure facilities were overcrowded and the toilets were clean. It was a bit of a hike to gate 4 where our flight went from but nothing like the miles you can go at Gatwick sometimes. The flight (Ryanair) left on time. As we had hand baggage only I can't comment on bag check-in. All-in-all it was a perfectly acceptable experience and certainly comparable to many airports I have flown from in Europe. I would be happy to fly from there again any time. So don't believe all the reviews!

The problems with this so called "airport" are very simple: a big increase in passenger traffic and a useless and inept management. Back in 2004 Luton was ok nothing special but perfectly acceptable as a low-cost airport nowhere near the hellhole that has become now. Nothing wrong with profit but that should not come at the expense of providing passengers with an acceptable travel experience. So here is my personal plea: passengers have a choice. Instead of complaining lets stop using this airport altogether and send a clear message to the people running this place. When they're hit in the wallet maybe then things will improve. They certainly cannot get any worse.

Truly a dreadful experience. One wonders why the Government allows the charlatans running this squalid gateway to and from the UK to get away with the miserable service that they provide. Flying to and returning from Hamburg emphasises the sense of German efficiency and British incompetence.

Absolutely appalling. We had to wait for over an hour for our luggage to arrive on the carrousel after arriving back from Faro last Saturday afternoon. No explanation and no one around to ask. How can it possibly take so long to get from the plane when it is such a short distance to the terminal. This is not the longest wait we have had for luggage at Luton we waited 2 hours the last time we used the airport. I felt sorry for the young families returning with very young children and babies their buggies were the last things to arrive from the plane! I certainly wouldn't recommend this airport to anyone.

Travelled to Faro on 15th June with Easyjet. Was quick through check in the security people efficient no problems there. There were enough facilities for what we required. We were kept waiting on the stairs for nearly 30 minutes because our aircraft was awaiting an incoming flight which had passengers on for our flight. On our return on the 28th had a long wait for our suitcases but were quick through passport control. The driver of the bus to the mid term car park could have been more pleasant just sat in his seat no smile nothing looked as if he was doing his job under duress. Because our original flight on the 25th had been cancelled we over stayed our welcome by three days. So before we could get out of the car park and were charged an extra £60 a case of being taken advantage of compared to the original fee.

Queues so long for EasyJet baggage drop and Luton security that you may miss your flight if you allow only 2 hours. Ridiculous.

Arrived at Luton two hour before flight departure and due to lack of staff had to wait three hours to check luggage in. Flight was delayed due to this. Arrived in Zakynthos and bag was lost. Waited four days for it to arrive. On return to Luton waited in aircraft for ten minutes because no one available to escort us from plane to arrival hall. Waited forty minutes for luggage to arrive at carousel. Appalling airport. So many staffing problems and luggage delay ruined our holiday. Though this is our local airport we are travelling three times as far for our next flight to east mids.

Arguably one of the most dysfunctional airports I have ever been to. Just getting there is a nightmare with constant road works right from the M1. Plus unlike every other London airport the train station is a 10 minutes bus journey away so you have to hang around waiting and trudge on and off busses and trains which are unreliable to say the least and not ideal with 20kg of luggage. The Terminal itself is a dark gloomy and dirty congested dump. Queues to Security are a joke with some passengers even backing onto the stairs and staff didn't make the process any better. Departures is fractionally better in terms of light but was cramped nowhere to sit shops and restaurants packed out lack of shops and restaurants toilets in bad condition and generally too hot and stuffy. When it came to boarding we were held in a narrow stairwell for 20 minutes which is unacceptable. Arrival was slightly better but still not good enough taking well over an hour from disembarking to walking outside the Terminal. The airport is just too small for how many passengers it handles and they want to expand from 10 to 18 million passengers a year with just a few extra Security lanes shops seating areas and a new car park? A place to always steer clear of I think.

Luton Airport is not fit for how many passengers pass through the airport everyday. When I travelled to Spain last month passport control was heaving as 10+ flight had arrived at the airport in the space of an hour. Then you have to wait another half hour to collect your luggage. Absolutely ridiculous. Also the terminal is quite dirty and is looking very old and tired. Luton Airport needs a huge revamp if they are to compete with other airports in the London Area. But Luton is a local airport and easy to access. This is the only reason I fly from/to Luton.

Security staff at Luton are incredibly rude and grumpy. The queues are incredibly long and the airport is understaffed. By far the worst airport security team in the UK.