Blackpool Airport

I flew to Palma Mallorca on 1st May and returned on 15th May. All in all the experience was very pleasant. There was far less hassle than at the larger airports and the facilities available were quite adequate for my needs. There were no queues at the check-in desk and no queues at the carousel on our return. All the staff I encountered were polite and friendly. I do not like flying at all but the relative calm and lack of large numbers of people made the experience far less daunting than usual. Blackpool airport is on my doorstep so I will definitely be using it again if I went to go to any of the destinations offered.

We flew on a Jet2.Com flight out of Blackpool to Majorca. At the same time there was another Jet2.com flight to another European destination. Check in with the Jet2.com staff was easy and a good experience. However we then had to join the chaotic scenes of security. One man checking the boarding passes of 2 charter flights (leaving within 15 minutes of each other) then onto security. Whilst I do not mind any level of additional scanning and checks the method that these were conducted was shoddy. There was one x-ray machine in use and many staff just stood around. We were asked to remove all electrical items from the hand luggage to go into separate plastic boxes. As we were doing this (on the floor as there were no tables to place our items on) the staff were tutting. Once we go through the person scanner the staff were telling us to move on into departure despite our items still being in a queue to go through the x-ray machine. I know this chaos is not a one off as when we returned from our holiday the place was late into Majorca and the cabin crew said that this was because of problems at Blackpool with getting staff through. The Jet2.com flights are weekly from Blackpool and clearly the airport cannot cope. We for one will not be flying from Blackpool again choosing Liverpool or Manchester (who have the same level of security but it is managed in a capable and professional way - unlike Blackpool).

I totally agree with the comments made on the 20.12.12 very stressful flying from here. We have had 4 holidays abroad this year with no problems decide to have a quick break to Dublin and this was the worse decision to fly from Blackpool. Will never fly from here.

Ludicrously complex system for collecting unannounced £10 airport departure fee with no information provided and staff unhelpful. Access from road well-signposted but then no indication of where to go (head as if for the hotel car-park). No facilities before Departure Lounge other than machines. Only bright spot was the extremely pleasant and helpful staff at Europ car-hire.

I have used the Blackpool Airport many times. Yes the airport is basic but convenient. There are few shops but then I don't fly on a shop. There are no major queues as a general rule. The terminal door is near the check in the check in is near security and you walk straight into the departure lounge. Highly recommended for families and disabled.

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time yet it took over an hour to get through security 2 flights were trying to get through at the same time. UKBA were inefficient one passenger was taken to a separate room and everything just stopped! There were 2 scanners but only one in use with half a dozen staff stood around doing very little. Our flight was 8.35am and we had to leave home at 5.30am did not have time to buy any mags or newspapers as most of our flight had already boarded. The £10 surcharge for each passenger means it would be cheaper to pay for car parking we have been flying from Blackpool for over 5 years and the improvement fee does not seem to be spent anywhere that we could see so as far as I am concerned it was a con. Our flight home was delayed an hour from Alicante.

We travelled back from Blackpool airport to Belfast 10th Sep 2012. We could not get through security before paying £10 each why are travellers not made aware of this charge before they travel? This information should have been disclosed to all airlines and travel agents so that they could inform would be travellers of this fee.

On Friday 7th September I and two elderly relatives both in wheelchairs flew from Blackpool to Belfast International. The transport infrastructure at the airport is all but non-existent. No buses nearby or trains and taxis have to stop a good 30 meters at least away from the terminal buildings even if you have pre-booked assistance they will not bring wheelchairs out. The airport development fee is a joke despite being a requirement to leave I have no idea what they are spending the money on as the airport have no improvements. The terminal building which looks like a converted hanger or warehouse is very poorly laid out. The only queue of the security area goes across the building rather than deeper into it and can on a busy flight extend into the check in area. The security staff themselves are beneath contempt. Once we finally got through to the lounge there was no information only a single small screen with flight details and the best part when our flight was called "could passengers who have booked special assistance make their way to the gate - um how?. At Belfast Int. Airport staff come and get you. On the flight I was travelling on there were at least six people in wheelchairs but Blackpool does not have a working ambilift - a scissor lift on wheels with a cabin on the back used to get wheelchairs up to the level of an aircraft. So airport staff had to carry people up the normal stairs. Instead of spending £10 per person to get out of the airport use the money to get to Manchester or Liverpool.

Very basic airport only one cafe and shop in deps area. In fairness there is only a handful of flights a day so its probably all that's needed but queues and the inevitable knock on effect meant our food arrived as plane was boarding. Hand luggage was weighed although collectively they were well under the 7kg each allowance some were over some under so we had to open them and move clothes between them. To add insult to this the handle of one of them was above metal frame and we had to either leave it or pay a £24 check-in fee. We chose to leave it and distribute the contents between other cases. The girl on desk was very nice and patient and even told us to just move things from one case to other however the whole thing was bizarre because leaving Dublin there was no problem with luggage and going back the plane was only 1/3 full so a bag 2" over limit was not really going to cause problems nor was any extra weight {which wasn't an issue anyway}. Also why could the "£10 airport development departure charge" not be just added to ticket price? Speaking of that the security man when we going through was not aware that u16's don't pay it and held us up waiting on supervisor to come. I will go back to Blackpool but will probably go via Manchester even allowing for train fare it will probably work out cheaper and in my opinion less stressful.

The airport is convenient in that it was only 20mins from where I was staying and I could get a lift from relatives therefore cutting down the cost. However on my return leg of my trip there was the matter of the 'airport development fee' which we were never informed of at any stage until we were turned away from the departure gate to go purchase this ticket! When I eventually got the ticket purchased they tried to tell me I was going to have to check in my bag because I was also carrying a handbag! I refused as I was able to carry both my handbag and hand luggage bag on outbound journey without any problems. Thankfully my sister was also travelling so I put her bag into mine! The airport is small but what do you expect for Blackpool? No need for a car plenty of trains about and good service!