Venice Marco Polo Airport

❎ Unverified | We departed from Venice Airport on a Saturday at early afternoon, and so it was very busy. Long lines for security, but took only about 10 mins to reach checkpoint. Officials brisk and efficient, so minimal delay. As we were going to Amsterdam there was no need for passport control, but then a long wait until gate announced, but lots of seating and quick free wifi. Flight information displayed on small overhead screens, and gate only announced 60 mins before departure, so leaves some confusion as to which part of airport to wait in - better flight information needed. Ground staff at adjacent gate were carrying out a comprehensive check on size of cabin bags, with some very unhappy passengers who were clearly trying it on. Unfortunately this procedure was not applied at our gate, with the result that the lockers on our aircraft were chock full, and some bags had to go in the hold. Why don't airlines and ground staff apply their own rules?

❎ Unverified | We were happy to have passed check-in and security under 40 min so we could relax and grab a bite for lunch before our flight to Montreal, then we were just shocked to see what was waitting on the other side! Just horrible. Totally disorganized airport. Wait for passport control is around 2h with a 300m line and no clear indications. So including check-in and security, that's close to 3h on your feet. There is no priority line for children and although my daughter is 10, that's a long time just waiting! Just an overall horrible customer experience.

✅ Verified Review | Venice Marco Polo Airport - In these days of extreme terrorist actions throughout the world and specific attacks at international airports we were amazed when a fellow passenger at our allotted departure gate found an unattended piece of luggage and was told by the boarding staff to pick the item up and take it to the police upstairs. The passenger, quite correctly, refused to do so and told them to take some action. The request was ignored and the item remained unattended for some time until another passenger again complained to a different airport employee but this was also received with the reply "Just pick it up and take the escalator to the next level where you will find the police kiosk". Needless to say this passenger also refused to do this and after several minutes a very reluctant airport employee called someone we assumed was security staff and the item was removed. Now we all knew we had already passed security etc but this item of luggage could have been placed there by anyone and contained anything so to ask passengers to approach, never mind pick up and carry is disgraceful and reflects poorly on this airports security policy.

✅ Verified Review | No jet bridge available so we arrived on a remote stand and then an announcement said that they could not find any steps to offload us onto the bus. Eventually we arrived at the immigration queues which were chaotic but followed a few others from the flight into a line only to be told as we were about 6 from the front that we had to go to a massive queue the other side of this area as that had 4 automatic passport gates. This queue was taking forever but the queue we were in previously was empty, and to add insult to injury we saw about 50 people arrive and immediately get ushered into the one we had been thrown out of. The staff there are useless and do not listen to reasonable arguments. Eventually we got through but had missed a water transport connection as a result. In addition this airports toilet facilities are far from hygienic, their announcements and some signs are not clear. Needs big improvements.

❎ Unverified | The passport control to leave the airport was horrendous. Although I was able to go through the e-gate, my daughter and granddaughter had to queue for nearly 2 hrs because my granddaughter was under 12 and unable to use the e-gate. So many people were called forward as they would have missed their flight, which is what happened to my family. I think lots of people in the queue did not realise that they could have gone through the e-gate. I will avoid this airport from now on.

❎ Unverified | This is the most unorganised airport I have been to. Arrival was without any problem. However, departure was a hellish adventure. It was chaotic, lacked logic in placement of signs and was generally understaffed. I guess a big part of the problem is that it has become too small to fit the larger masses at summer, but still, this unorganised place makes one feel both unsafe and not very respectfully treated. I'm always at airports in good time. This time I was at the airport 4 hours before departure. My plan was to use the self service check in kiosks you always find at other airports, go through security and then eat lunch and maybe do some shopping before departure. But there weren't any self service check in -kiosks and there wasn't any information about where to check in until well past 2 hours before departure. In the hall people didnt know what queue went to which desk and there were no personel organising it either. From check in we hurried immediately upstairs where we first couldn't find the correct queue to security check and then when we found it, we discovered it went around two corners and was about 300 meters long. Other trevellers had to pass through it. On the other side of the security check we found out that our flight was already boarding so we had to hurry on to the plane. No lunch and no shopping. We were in the Airport in good time and still we had to queue for two hours and feel stressed at the same time. I didn't feel safe or well taken care of like I do at other European airports and will probably avoid this airport in the future.

❎ Unverified | Found the airport very clean and easy to get around. Lost my passport and Police and Lost property staff were excellent. Thank you so very much. Food options very good, and had no problems whatsoever in getting to baggage drop and passport control. Found all staff very friendly and helpful.

✅ Verified Review | The passport control line was understaffed (two officers for hundreds of non EU residents leaving Europe from Venice). The line took 1.5 hours and was really just crisis management, allowing through only those passengers whose flight was about to leave or which were already late. Result was that passengers had no ability to get food or shop in the airport, could not really go to any lounge. Passengers like me will try to avoid the airport as an EU departure point in the future. The delays were clearly the result of poor management and nothing to do with security. The many improvements to the airport over the past three years were thus entirely overshadowed by avoidable management issues.

❎ Unverified | This airport is a joke, a shame to airport facilities set in modern world territories. I can't believe that the airport management could accept queues of over 300 meters long and more than an hour long for passport control. Not to mention the previous queue for security. Seriously, I haven't seen such a terrible mess in the past 20 years that I've been flying around the world.

✅ Verified Review | It takes nearly three hours to pass through Venice Airport, all of which you will spend on your feet in queues in an atmosphere of noise and chaos, surrounded by people becoming stressed because they believe their flights will leave without them. The best advice is to treat it as comedy, a free drama expressing Italian character. No point getting cross, a large proportion of travellers are Brits, who express their character by queuing peacefully but grumbling a bit. Especially bite your tongue in security, where the staff are an unattractive mixture of officious and incompetent. Five tips: (i) after checking in, you have to go upstairs for security - ignore signs (not many anyway), there is only one way through and it is mixed up with departure desks, (ii) there are two queues for immigration, to the left for e-reader passports (about 45 minutes yesterday) and to the right for others (goodness knows, but it was five times as long and barely moving), (iii) water bought after security is at bandit prices, (iv) there are no facilities for children, and so few seats that they have to be reserved for the very elderly or infirm, (v) elderly passengers should request a wheelchair from the drop off, it is a long way on a narrow windy path/passage mixing ingoing and outgoing so they are likely to be knocked flying (we were travelling with two 90+ relatives). Other reviews show that we did not just hit an unlucky day and the authorities have no intention of improving the airport, so either you treat it as part of your experience of Italy (after all, our flight did take off, though we sat on the tarmac for an hour while the baggage handlers messed around) or you resolve only to come back to Venice by train (as we have done, but that is a luxury available to the retired). It also makes you appreciate Heathrow - also long queues, but a sense of purpose and staff who are trying to help in difficult circumstances, rather than indifferent to them.