Aberdeen Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Honestly. This airport calls itself International. They dream. Have the powers that be visited any other airports to compare? El Hierro, a tiny Canary Island has better facilities, more helpful staff and a quicker check in. Firstly you cannot check in at Aberdeen until about 2 hours before your flight, if Tenerife can take you at any point on departure day, why not Aberdeen? Then the check in procedure is slow. My husband checked on the way out, it took three minutes per group. At Tenerife it was one minute. The acoustics in the general proles departure lounge are so bad that often you cant hear what the announcement refers to. The food and drink is horribly expensive airside, and the condition of the seats in the general departure lounge is nothing short of appalling. The loos, whilst quite clean, are showing signs of wear. The final insult is the lack of covered walkways/airbridges to flights. On the way out we were told it was gate 1, only to find that gate 1 has about 5 subgates, so one hundred metres later you get to queue at a door, to be sent another 200 metres to your plane. On the way back, having come from Tenerife 28 degree heat, we were greeted with 2 degrees and rain, and we still had to go down uncovered metal slippery wet steps and walk in an uncovered walkway to the terminus. Please please Aberdeen learn from these reviews!

✅ Verified Review | As a means of providing a visitor's first impression of this town, the airport is abysmal. The new buildings might improve the terminal, but it isn't going to improve the staff's poor customer service. Miserable, grumpy, slow to open check-in desks on time, and this morning nothing short of rude. The passenger facilities are archaic and more befitting a regional airport in the United States, rather than a so-called International Airport. I really hope the parking charges (that are extortionate) are being put to good use. We aren't all rich oil executives or workers, and I'm tempted to travel via Edinburgh from now on.

✅ Verified Review | Aberdeen airport really needs to improve passenger comfort. It is not pleasant having to fly regularly from this airport. Last week during boarding on a flight to Amsterdam, they were boarding a flight to Paris and another to Alicante and put everyone in lines, pretty much almost mixed up. People were asking which line was their flight, etc. Total confusion. Plus some rude staff members kept shouting for people to squeeze to the sides.

❎ Unverified | I would only like to add my agreement to the majority of complaints about my home city of Aberdeen's abysmal airport. From the catastrophic security system to the rip off pick up parking charges (£2 for 15 minutes then £10 if you are a minute longer), the whole experience leaves me frustrated and ashamed of being an Aberdonian. I avoid it at all costs and prefer to drive an hour or two to other airports if at all possible.

✅ Verified Review | Aberdeen airport is a total joke! Zero comfort for passengers, no options for some decent meal and the staff is usually very unpleasant. If you happen to fly in peak times be ready to be in queues all the way until you literally board the plane. Needs proper intervention!

✅ Verified Review | It may be a small airport but I like it. The very fact that you can smoke after security makes all the difference in the world. There is a decent selection of shops and it never seems too crowded. I would pay the £1 every time if it meant keeping the smoking area. To be honest if you knock on the door someone will open it anyway.

✅ Verified Review | Aberdeen airport is awful. Like many regional airports it has been reorganised in its original footprint by people who are determined to maximise the inconvenience of passengers (just like Stansted, Manchester, Edinburgh, Gatwick et al). It is cheap and nasty. The security area is appalling with a bottleneck deliberately created into a single scanner that invariably goes off requiring a 360 degree body scan and removal of shoes (not required at LHR in identical circumstances). The scan detected an issue with my shirt cuffs which I could understand if I had been wearing metal cufflinks but there was a button that seemed to be the issue that was not even inspected I was just told 'that's ok'. Multiply this by people in the queue and hey presto that is why there is a queue. Now I know all the safety stuff is important but this seems ridiculous and inconsistent. The exit from the security area is a narrow chicane so agian it just adds to congestion. Airside is dismal with not enough seats and filthy and limited toilet facilities. There are plenty of security guards (why?) and airport staff sitting about but clearly no effective management. All-in-all a pitiful example of a regional airport that poorly serves the area and any passenger unfortunate enough to travel through it. I am not sure who owns it but whoever does should be ashamed.

✅ Verified Review | I am very disappointed with customer service at Aberdeen airport. We had to fly with family to Aberdeen. Which is in fact a very nice city. Unfortunately the airport is not. We had problems with the baby food to get through security check, which is in principle allowed to all security regulations (EU and local). Staff were not only unfriendly but very rude. And when asking for their ID numbers, they refused and turned around the ID cards so that I cannot read them. Unfortunately, we were left with a crying and hungry baby. We sent a complaint about airport security staff and a few weeks later we got a letter of excuse. Poor service. I will avoid Aberdeen airport at any cost and will fly via Edinburgh.

I'm unlucky to have this as my local airport and have travelled through it hundreds of times over the last 30 years. It is without doubt one of the worst airports anywhere - nothing about it is good and it winds me up every time I use it. Despite the city having been one of the most prosperous places in the UK over the decades, the airport is an absolute disgrace and embarrassment. From the crazy £2 dropoff charge or £28 per day car parking, the tiny check-in area, stupidly designed security area promoting maximum queues, very small departures area with inevitable long queues for food and drink, lack of airbridges and having to walk across the runway to board in all weathers - and on arrival, a ridiculous revolving door for only 3 people at a time ensuring maximum inconvenience to passengers, the laughable baggage reclaim area and slow baggage delivery, the whole place is awful. It's currently being 'done up' but that probably means taking 12 months to fit a new vending machine. Dreadful in every way.

Aberdeen airport is an huge shambles and an embarrassment to the city. My wife and I arrived on Sunday 25th Sept and it took. 45 minutes for the cases to start traveling on the dead end road to knowhere transport belt then after finally collecting our cases we found out that we were locked into the exit area and could not move because of a locked exit door. 15 minutes later the door was opened and while we were exiting I asked the gentleman at the door what the hold up was and he said what do you mean? I said we have just waited 45 minutes for our bags and 15 minutes for the door to be opened. His reply was "nothing to do with me and you need to take that up with Swissport!" I have travelled on business through ABZ for the last 40 years and the experience has got worse and worse, the place is a total shambles. Then onto the taxi rank which has moved across the road, very lucky for us the weather was dry but if it had been raining then - welcome to Aberdeen. It's a terrible experience and trust me I have been to many many places in the world and I'm ashamed of this place as it's my home town.