Beauvais Airport

One of the worst airport I have been to. Too small for the amount of travellers landing there via cheap airline companies. Queuing for the doors to open to go into the passport area queuing for passport queuing for the bus to Paris and then on the return trip queuing for check-in queuing for security queuing for passport. I am not talking small amount of queuing! But I guess these are the type of things to expect when you travel cheap.

Since my last review the security queues have not improved - if anything they are worse. I stood in line for 1 hour! Consequently I did not have time to visit the airport shops so the airport is in fact losing money by not increasing security facilities. On the bright side there are now private car park operators off-site which brings welcome competition.

This airport is pretty far from Paris (one hour by bus) so give yourself plenty of time. There is a dedicated bus service which is nice. The computer ticket machine would not accept my debit card since it is an American card not European so I had to wait until the teller showed up to buy a ticket with cash. Besides that bus service was fine. When I got to the airport I had to wait for the screen to tell which counter to go to for my flight then wait for an airline representative to show up. The line for passport control/security was quite long so I was nervous about missing my flight. Once I got through the terminal was quite small and the gate was right there. All in all a perfectly reasonable experience.

BVA-TSR. The shuttle bus in Paris are something organised but when I arrived there I had to queue and so many people were waiting there that I feared not being able to get in. At 10 AM no bus were at the starting point but at 10.15 AM 13 buses had arrived. In Beauvais low cost companies have this tiny box where you have to put your luggage to be able to get in the plane. There are people who check and ask every passenger to fit their hand luggage in the box and if it doesn't send you back to the company. The security people are nice and welcoming it's just a pain to queue for 100 meters going along bags' check identity check and security check. The airport is small but with the new terminal there are more space and room for passengers waiting in the departure gate.

Dublin from Beauvais airport 4 yrs after my last experience but that was a nightmare I will not use this airport again and will continue flying from CDG with either Aer Lingus or Air France. Staff are not polite and not welcoming. Check in started 10 mins late no information given when staff arrived they didn't apologise no "hello" or smile they don't even look at you when talking to you. Once check in is finished you have to queue for passport check's (they check your passport 4 times in 10 meters). Waiting area is awful along with boarding the plane. They are making people queue for ages whereas staff on plane where waiving at the 2 airport staff (that are suppose to allow people board the plane but where to busy talking to each other). There were 2 accesses to the plane (at the front and at the back) one plane hostess was shouting for 10 mins to let the people board at back of plane as the front of the plane was too busy. I have flown from so many airports in the world and many French airports but I couldn't believe what I was experiencing. So many passengers also where shocked with the level of incompetence from staff. So folks just be prepared when flying from Beauvais and it is really not worth any longer.

Terrible - will not use this airport ever again no matter how cheap the flight! Our flight was at 3pm and we were at the airport before 1.15pm but nearly missed it. They do not seem to be able to cope and why do they have to check your passport 4 times before you even get on the plane. No queues just people herded together for 1 man to take 5 minutes to look at each passport with no regard to the mounting mass of people or that flights were waiting to take off. Chaos and stressed out passengers. It was a relief to get home and this is not what you need after a lovely holiday in Paris. Be warned too because the shuttle buses only operate at set times. We got to the collection point for 12 noon to be told that there would not be another bus until 1.15pm which would mean we and a load of other passengers who arrived at the same time and after us would not make it for our flights. Had to share a taxi to the airport with other passengers and it cost every passenger EU35 and no refund if you had bought a return ticket for the shuttle. You are not told this when you buy the return ticket and you miss the signs when you arrive as you head across the car park to get the metro or train to your destination. A lot of unhappy people so don't get caught out with the shuttle bus.

There is now a second terminal which has eased the overcrowding. It's a very short walk from the long-term car park which is great - except that the cost of parking for my next trip is treble the air fare. Still no bus to Beauvais from Rouen hardly surprising since I've only been lobbying for one for nine years. You know how things move in France - Rouen tourism office says 'we have enough tourists we don't need a bus to Beauvais' (an hour away!) The cost of Beauvais parking is now driving me back to flying Aer Lingus from CDG when possible which is more cheaply accessible by train + bus.

The wait area for check in seemed more like a cafeteria with dirty iron chairs than an airport. Maybe I'm spoiled because I'm used to airports having wifi decent and enough places to sit and a heating system? It was freezing. When we could finally check in and proceed to security people were so crowded together into the unorganized mob inching toward the boarding pass checker I could feel breath on my head. It took 40 minutes to get through security - only 3 lanes were open to accommodate the herd of cattle pushing and standing uncomfortably close to each other. The other side of security was not much better with no place to plug in a laptop and only one cafe and a duty free store. Flight was delayed an hour and a half. No tunnels to get into the plane so we were freezing waiting in the line. Hugely uncomfortable. Return trip to Beauvais was more bearable because we were just passing through but my luggage came onto the conveyor belt soaked through from the rain.

Used to be a great airport - even had the free parking that makes so many French airports a joy - but now Beauvais is a victim of its own success. Chaotically overcrowded expensive confrontational and stressful. The staff do their best but the overcrowding simply frazzles everyone. Parking often costs more than airfare. There's still no bus to Rouen Dieppe or anywhere bar Paris. Seating is inadequate and even with the new extension + pre-printed boarding cards the check-in queues are a nightmare. Rows with Ryanair over baggage are never- ending and it's not uncommon to see passengers in tears. I've started to use CDG in preference - getting there is cheaper than parking at Beauvais for any trip of more than a few days' duration and Aer Lingus is a far more restful option than Ryanair. Sad to say all this - used to love using this airport but now dread it. Wonder if management cares about passenger comments?

Beauvais was utter chaos when I travelled from there to Dublin. We arrived 2 and a half hours before departure and still almost missed the flight. Security were so slow it seemed like it was intentional. Why do the bag checkers need to look at everyone's passport when its already been checked by immigration. Loads of people missed the flight. Chaos.