Aberdeen Airport

Aberdeen airport works well most of the time. The only thing I can see that really lets the place down is the lack of toilet facilities air side. It's not unusual here to see queues of 8 or 9 in a gents toilet as was the case on a Saturday morning in July recently. This is something that really does need sorting out as other aspects of the airport are largely perfectly adequate.

Avoid this airport on outbound flights in the afternoon particularly on Friday. Allow up to 1hr for the security screening process. You can pay an additional £5 to jump to the top of the security queue. I have not seen this at any other airport. Staff are friendly but another one/two security screening stations are required to cope at peak times. The luggage arrivals belt is small and if three flights land at once you scramble for your bags. On exiting the airport the smokers are just outside the door with the discarded cigarette ends on the pavement. Not a very nice welcome to Aberdeen. If you have the option avoid this airport or use it out of peak hours - not easy due to the remote location. I have recently used Terminals 3/4 and 5 at Heathrow and Aberdeen Airport is worse than these.

International arrivals tiny baggage retrieval approx 15 mins Rail link non existant bus services limited taxis expensive. Airport clean and tidy good choice of car hire.

Arrival okay bags quickly through departure left from a gate which had only 6 seats so passengers had to stand in a very narrow corridor. Which was not pleasant on a hot day.

Pocket sized airport that seems to be bursting at the seams at times. Waited 15 minutes for bags to start to appear on the belt after a flight from LHR - unusual as the place really isn't that big. Better bus connections to the city centre would be great. but not likely to happen. On the whole not a bad little airport.

Vast improvement in security screening procedures ( in terms of their ability to cope). Still a couple of surly staff who need retrained. Home Office bloke checking passports on the way back in is much nicer than he used to be and even managed a smile !

I've been using Aberdeen airport infrequently over the last ten years. The staff remain the friendliest and most polite I've seen in any airport and there is something exhilirating and about coming into this Northern city usually in a small aircraft bouncing in through high winds. The small airport usually allows for quick access to bus or taxi. Waiting for a bus can take some time though. The airport retains a nice atmosphere overall and is always clean.

As a very regular passenger through Aberdeen Airport I can see that BAA have put in a lot of time and money expanding and re-shaping their departures area which has resulted in a nicer experience for passengers departing ABZ. The staff are efficient and friendly if sometimes a bit harassed but they cope admirably. Unfortunately the same is not experienced by international passengers arriving in the airport. The staff are good but in this day and age with ABZ trying to attract more international flights one tiny international arrivals area is not really sufficient. ABZ has international flights departing almost on top of one another at various times during the day and for each departure - you guessed it there's an arrival. I have experienced on many occasions being forced to wait outside the arrivals area in nothing more than a covered walkway while the previous plane load of passengers clear the immigration area and pass into baggage reclaim (the same room). Once in all international flights have one carousel for baggage which can sometimes have 2 or 3 planeloads (anything from EMB145s to B737s) of passengers round it. All in all not a great effort from Aberdeen Airport however it has served the North-East of Scotland and the North Sea oil industry very well over the years. I hope they go on doing so in the future but the management there really need to look at what they are going to do with extra passengers as their numbers will inevitably increase.

A bit chaotic due to extension work but very efficient going through security. Food ok and not too bad pricewise. Smoking is outside at either end of the terminal (bus shelters placed for bad weather) but most people just stood outside front door and it looked very messy - BAA staff doing nothing about it. Quick for getting bags through from the aircraft which is useful. Also at rush hour might be a good idea to pre- book a cab - they were overwhelmed!

Used Aberdeen airport to fly to and back from to Amsterdam. The customer service at the airport was of a high standard and public transport to the city centre is reliable. Would gladly use Aberdeen again to travel domestically or to continental Europe. The recent news that weekly flights to popular destinations in Portugal and Spain will be available soon will also add to the appeal of this airport for travellers from Northern Scotland.