Alicante Airport

On my last 2 departures from Alicante airport, I have accidentally left banned items in my hand luggage which weren't spotted during security checks. On the first occasion I left a pack of non-safety razor blades in my case, on the second occasions my wife had inadvertently left a pair of scissors in her polythene toiletries bag which were visible as they went along the belt. The system at the hand luggage scanner is that the person viewing the x-ray images, stops the belt and rummages through any suspect luggage so is under pressure to get the case cleared and the belt moving again rather than suspect cases being flagged for further checks off to the side as is the case in other airports I have travelled through. I have seen the person monitoring the x-ray image screen fiddling with their mobile phones.

Please beware when using Alicante Airport that it operates or is complicit in a number of scams. Firstly, there are never any bottles of water in the drinks machines, so rather than pay the extortionate €1.50 for a bottle that costs 20 cents in supermarkets, you pay the incredible €3.50 charged by the restaurants and shops. Then there is the 'free' wi-fi. I used this and was given the option of filling in a 'sponsors questionnaire' to get free wi-fi or paying about €4. After filling in an annoying and time-consuming questionnaire, I received spam texts and emails. One of the texts cost me £4.50 to receive. Very free. The airport must know this happens. It is a pity because in many aspects (bag drop, time taken to get through security) the airport seems to be improving.

Travelled from this airport on numerous occasions and the free wifi is the worst I have ever experienced. Never been able to connect which is a farce if you're delayed. There must be a substantial amount of business users that travel from this airport so I assume they rely on their own data as the airports internet is garbage.

I am a wheelchair user and have been using Alicante for the past 13 Years. It has come to my attention that people use the disabled toilets for having a cigarette as they can't smoke in the terminal - surely these toilets should have smoke sensors. This has happened to me on several occasions the latest being on 7/12/15 - I came out smelling like an ashtray.

Not too bad but wouldn't like too long a delay here. No comfortable bar landside to wait for flights to arrive just a couple of cafeterias with rather hard seats. Acres of space but nothing going on. Through security (reasonably efficient) to airside area with a big "pub" which was fine. Duty free shop good, other shops a bit specialised and pricey. Staff I encountered were generally polite and friendly but a bit slow taking our order in the pub - I ended up ordering at the bar as time was getting on. Boarding area was standard with everybody starting to queue despite being called up in stages. They generally got away with queue jumping which caused a few delays in the boarding process.

Alicante Airport lacks air conditioning everywhere. Not enough staff at check in area, staff extremely rude talking away in Spanish to my husband when the bleeper went off as he walked through. They treated us as if we were criminals pointing to us and our carry on luggage, all was ok in the end but when I said to one member of staff 'we do not speak Spanish' I was ignored. We were then left to wait afterwards for the bus that takes you to the plane for at least 15 mins with no air conditioning or air for that matter with babies in buggies, parents, elderly people etc. Why in this day and age should passengers have to endure this sort of unacceptable behaviour. I will never go to this airport again.

Please put a sign above the waiting bench for disabled assistance in departures, when I took a flight in June it was not signposted as a bench only for the disabled to use. We were very embarrassed when staff told us off for sitting there even though there were no signs to state it was for the disabled, so how were we to know! Please clearly signpost this as not all disabled people look disabled, and people might not realise that they need to give up the seat for them.

I have used Alicante Airport for the past fifteen years but needed assistance for the past five years since becoming Registered Blind. I have always been very grateful and impressed with the assistance until today. Having arrived at 8.36am for my 11am flight I was not taken to passport control until 10.30am! As I travel on my own I could not go to get a drink or visit the toilet in case assistance arrived. No one cared when I complained it was treated as a joke to them. It upset me very much as it is stressful enough travelling alone to visit my elderly father never have I had such terrible "assistance". Security at passport control were very rude not understanding as my cane was being x-rayed I couldn't walk forward as I had no idea what was in front of me!

I have used Alicante Airport for 15 years or more and can say without doubt that the new terminal is a complete and unmitigated disaster. Announcements are incomprehensible Security often slow and rude the air-conditioning at best ineffective at worst a disgrace. People struggle to keep cool and there is so little seating that at busy times it is impossible for the elderly to find somewhere to sit. The food is over priced and of very poor quality. Even the VIP lounge is dreadful I can only think of Exeter Airport as worse and I have visited at least 10 different lounges in the last twelve months. I can think of nothing to redeem this airport save cleanliness.

Just returned to UK last night May 10. Got to the airport early flight delayed and had a long time hanging around. As far as the usual airport experience (rarely good is it) is concerned it wasn't too bad. However the air con was inadequate and the bathroom shower when we got back home was really needed. I wonder if this would be a major problem during the very busy Summer months. Food a bit pricey but ok. I used off site car hire this time bit tedious but better than some of the big lines waiting at the on site companies.