Bordeaux Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Agree with reviewer who dubbed this a tale of two airports. The cheap flights part (Billi) is a graphic and uncomfortable indication that Bordeaux airport sees the clients of Easyjet, Ryanair and Whizz as second-class citizens not worthy of sufficient or clean toilets (which were disgusting), a conveyor belt to take luggage from the bag drop, sufficient space for queueing, seats, efficient baggage reclaim, adequate space and seating at the gate. The conditions are so poor that they are guaranteed to make staff and passengers alike very unhappy. Particularly disappointing in Bordeaux which as a city is so forward-looking and apparently otherwise good at travel infrastructure. The one good point was the care with which enhanced security measure were carried out, just a pity that this could not have been done without the outrageously long queues and dearth of information. The company that manages Billi should visit Edinburgh airport for an object lesson in how to treat all passengers equally well and efficiently.

Not Verified | Worst airport I have ever been to. First the actual departure hall (known as "Bill") is unlogically located and there was no staff to be found in sight to ask info to (and we were there around midday). We then proceeded to the security checks where I was stopped because I had a pocket knife. I had checked that my airline (easyJet) allowed it on board before hand and indeed it was ok, in fact in my previous flight (just a week before) I was allowed to take it with me when departing from the Netherlands. But at Bordeaux airport I was stopped and this agressive police man started agressivly saying in French (despite us and his colleagues saying we spoke English) that he didn't care and that in French airports it is not allowed to carry them in your hand luggage and nearly threw it away. So I then immediately asked him to see said rules to which he responded - still in French - "Google it" and "we don't have to show rules to you". Already quite upset by all of this I showed him that on the easyjet site it does say it is okay to which he still said he didn't care. Since this little pocket knife has big sentimental value I demanded to get it back and asked to other security guards if I could send it via post or go back and check in my bag. I was allowed to do that and found out it only took 6 euros to check in my bag. Since it was so easy (and totally affordable) to check in the bag, I'd like to 1) tell the guards they don't have to be agressive towards travellers who were badly informed and just suggest the check-in option with a calm voice and 2) easyJet, please update your website so that it displays the correct information. It did indeed say at the check-in desks that the pocket knife was not allowed, but I checked in online and had no way of knowing about this. The airport is just overall dirty.

✅ Trip Verified | I never usually leave a bad review of an establishment and I usually try and see the positive however with this airport we experienced very few positives. After arriving in Bordeaux we were herded like cattle into the worlds longest queue, part of which was outside in scorching heat, once we completed one part of the queue and found were hopeful for the end we discovered as we went to main passport control room there was still a mass of zigzag queuing to be done (photo attached). By this point, 45 minutes later and half of the queue down my 5 year old was desperate for the toilet. Luckily the airport staff let family skip some of the queue so we were able to get to baggage collection only to be confronted with one working toilet which we queued for. This toilet was the most revolting toilet I have ever seen. I won’t describe it here in case people are eating. We then had to make a mad dash to try and find another one. We had to leave arrivals and make a swift search for a toilet and ended up in the main departure terminal which is quite a stroll in 34 degree heat and a desperate 5 year old. Meanwhile the husband is panicking about lack of luggage which appeared on another conveyer belt. Naturally we were very concerned about our return trip home. We were in the Billi terminal which is pretty dire. We had to wait for a significant amount of time before we could check in our bags and there were no toilets. When our bags were weighed and labelled we then had to take them to another area to be checked. We then went through security. For the first time ever the machines went off (I left my Iwatch on) and I was checked thoroughly so I will say they were very good on security and thorough. Once through there was not enough seating for everyone including the cafe Where we bought sandwiches which were so soggy and massively overpriced but that is to be expected. We then get an announcement that speedy boarding are to check in, however no one knows the gate and as a result we start forming a queue (very British) by a random guessed gate (powers of deduction). Surprise surprise wasn’t the correct gate. About 15 min later they announce the gate and everyone has to do a quick about turn. After that we wait some more to get on plane and have to walk a little way to get on. I honestly wish to never return to this disorganised airport ever again.

Not Verified | I have no idea what you people are moaning about! Bordeaux is a perfectly lovely little airport, a little aged perhaps, but kept clean, well sign posted and very easy to get around. I interacted with car rental people (return hire car), airport information person, baggage check people, Air France staff and security. Not once did I get any bad feelings and as soon as I started talking in Australian all people were lovely and helpful, giving clear and polite instructions directions etc in English. Facilities at the airport are great, I counted at least 6 places to buy food and the same number to buy snacks. Prices were also comparable to anywhere else’s I have been in France. Airport was well sign posted in English and was very easy to get around. Toilets were all clean. As for the final boarding area, there are toilets and refreshments available - but remember you are at the final boarding point, so yes limited fare. Plenty of seats and nowhere near as bad as people are saying. All I can say is if you find this place a bother you shouldn’t be allowed to travel in public alone! A nice little airport, professional staff and a nice feel to it!

Not Verified | It would appear it's a tale of two terminals. The main terminal looks fine which the main carriers use, however, the second terminal called Billi used by the 'budget' airlines is a complete shambles. It's basically a large glass topped shed with inadequate space, too few toilets and non existent air conditioning with grumpy staff (actually I can't blame the staff - I'd be grumpy if I had to work in those conditions). You're herded through to the gates and space is at an absolute premium. It was quite a wait on the tarmac (±30c), luckily it wasn't raining or else we'd have been soaked through. The area is fantastic and I'm sure we'll be back, however next time I'll book earlier and go BA to avoid Billy.

✅ Trip Verified | If you want to visit Bordeaux (I would recommend it) fly to Paris CDG and get the TGV. This should be a brilliant airport, close to the city and good public transport links. Unfortunately the check in system totally disorganised, queued out of the terminal in the blazing sun with no shade. Slow progress because they keep having to bring people to the front whose flights were about to leave. At the this point it's still acceptable, because 3 of the six desks are still dealing with the rest of the queue. Soon afterwards they just stopped dealing with the the people in the queue and instead would sit doing nothing whilst the passengers for the next flight they had decided to deal with tried to extricate themselves from the queue. Their excuse for this mess was that they had a lot of flights leaving at once. Obvious solutions here: 1) Have more staff on, they must have known that all these scheduled flights were scheduled to leave at once (the word scheduled is quite a big clue here). 2) Don't schedule more flights than you can cope with.

✅ Trip Verified | People on here who say something like ‘this was the worst airport in the World’ really need to check their privilege. I have been throughout multiple developing World airports, if you want to see real infrastructure challenges then start with those. Having said that, this airport could be improved (note I travelled with British airways not easyJet which is an altogether different terminal): post-security catering is limited to one tiny coffee shop. Please eat before security where you get a wider choice. More plugs for charging would be helpful too: this is a general European and American issue, who are falling well behind the facilities in Asian airports. Other than that it’s not flashy but functional. Also: why do so many Brits on here moan all the time?! Cheer up!

✅ Trip Verified | This is a big garage with somewhere to eat (just about) and sit (couldn’t find a seat) and no one on passport control. Shuffled in to be shoved out. Ridiculous.

❌ Not Verified | Dreadful airport. One over priced place to eat/drink after security. No police at passport check for an hour as the queue built, finally one police officer appeared to check all passports while people stood in an area with no air conditioning. Wifi (max an hour) requires a registration and then doesn’t work.

❎ Not Verified | I've never expected to experience such a poor quality service from Bordeaux Airport. I was travelling with Wizzair therefore arrival and departure was on Terminal B and I can guess that this is the reason. Terminal is really small, its not capable of handling this amount of passengers. After arrival we had to stand in 1h que to get passport check (only 2 police officers were on duty), You have to stand outside, it's good that it wasnt raining during that time. Departure was even more extreme, people standing in the line outside of the terminal entrance, chaos, stuffy and overheated inside the building. Too few stewards for providing control and proper management of the situation. Security check really messy, went in with bottle of water without being returned. I was not feeling well secured. Statements below on the Bordeaux website are completely false: "subject to operation regulations and strict safety controls, as with any standard airline company." "board quickly" Avoid travelling via Terminal B or be prepared to the worst.