Bournemouth Airport

What a shambles! I flew to Antalya on the Thursday Thomson flight two weeks ago. After last year we decided to get to the airport at 11.20am for the 2.15pm flight. Check-in (fast bag drop?) opened at 11.35 we were 3rd in the line so we were through quickly despite only one functioning check-in agent. After a nice relaxed lunch we sat down in the gate area with 5 mins to boarding and were joined by an old lady who was distressed as she had arrived at 12.00 to be faced with the slow check-in and security. This was our experience last year. The old lady had just enough time to use the toilet before boarding. A neighbour of ours went a week later and they took 1 3/4 hours to get through. What a shame our local airport is a disgrace they don't care about their customers just maximum profit. Try to find an alternative airport or check-in like we did 3hrs ahead.

My flight was cancelled - due to fly out at 17.50 and we were kept in the dark as to what was happening an hour later proposed flight time of 20.00 was given. This came and went still no information given no offer of food vouchers or hot drinks. The bar/cafe closed only the goodwill of the staff in WH Smiths allowed us to purchase drinks and snacks. Then it was announced that our flight would be the following morning and hotel accommodation was being sought. We then had to queue to say who wanted accommodation. Still no offer of food the Airport Manager arrived a lot later and hot drinks were made available about 11.45. I was in the first taxi to a hotel and was in the hotel by 00.15 being told to be ready for collection to airport at 05.00. On arrival we had to queue again to collect new boarding cards (this was not conveyed either the night before or on arrival at the airport) no one knew the time of our flight and no one seemed to want to speak to us again no offer of food or hot drink vouchers. Eventually we were told we could purchase food and claim back from Ryanair! Flight took off at 08.30! Altogether a bad experience mainly caused by not being kept informed of progress.

I suffer with heart failure and walking more than 20 metres (especially in the wind and rain) is very challenging why no drop off/pick up zone from disabled zone. Sign posting not clear inside and outside. I had to remove my flip flops why me and not others. I have difficulty standing on one foot no chair offered. Overzealous staff. Bournemouth airport will continue to be a 'backwater' airport if it remains so unprofessional. The screen informing you of your gate call instructs you to 'relax eat and shop'! The tables in the common waiting area were dirty and covered in beer glasses and crumbs from snacks.

Totally agree with rip off parking for drop off. What a scam. The staff checking your passports and boarding passes need a lesson in customer service too. I travelled with Ryanair last month with hand luggage only. I put my liquids in a zip lock freezer bag that I've been using for the last few years only to be told by the "jobs worth" man that it was too big and I'd need to "buy" yes that's right "buy" 2 bags for £1! The bags that other airports give you for "free" So I did and decanted my freezer bag into the 2 flimsy rip off bags and went through ok. I was not happy at all though. I was especially annoyed by the superior attitude of the jobsworths there. So last week I flew with good old Ryanair again and used my 2 purchased bags from my previous flight you know the ones that I had to buy for £1 and guess what? I was told by a miserable member of staff a woman that I wasn't allowed to take 2 bags. So I told her about my previous flight and asked why I could only take 1. She informed me with a bleak expression that that was the rule. So if that's the case why can't one buy 1 flimsy plastic bag for 50p. The staff are sadly lacking in good customer service. They also need to be consistent and stop ripping off people. I use Bournemouth as it's close to where I live but if Ryanair and Thomson operated out of Southampton then I'd definitely use that airport. Bournemouth needs to improve.

I dropped off my family in the car-park and went to pay at the exit. I had cash of £2.50 and found it is card only. Not having my wallet I stated I have cash only. The instruction I was given was to return to the short term car-park and pay there. Where is the short term car-park as I tried to return to the drop off zone and of course the barrier only operates one way. On my return to the exit and by this time extremely annoyed the barrier suddenly opened and I was free. Its bad enough having to pay to drop people off but to feel imprisoned is something else. Please for the sake of other people arrange for cash payments to be made.

Bournemouth Airport is like a Mickey Mouse service operating in a third world country! Exorbitant Car Parking costs and no Pedestrian access are the first obvious signs that you are going to be ripped off. I am here to drop off my wife and sister for a short break and a flight to Dublin. Arriving in the Departure Hall is like visiting a vacant planet - 12.15pm and not a sole in sight anywhere. Eventually one will spot a Departure/Arrivals board with possibly all 3 flights showing! You may have some time to kill (don't you always at airports) so you wander over to the only outlet "Joe's" only to be greeted by an attendant who appears to have better things to do than speak with customers! Told they haven't got any food as the delivery is late. We make our way to an enquiry desk - 2 ladies appear to be engaged in critical discussion so being the only other people there - we stand and wait and wait until finally one lady looks at us as though we were aliens and virtually demands with a yes! Can you tell me when the baggage drop for this flight opens - I ask. 1.20 she replies looking at her watch - it is 1.22! Without further ado she totally ignores us walks from behind the enquiry desk - across the concourse - and opens up the check-in desk! I will not bother telling you about the debate on baggage weights and Cabin or Hold Luggage but suffice to say its Southampton Airport for me in future.

I know that the security info for airports from the government must change on a daily basis however the people who work at Bournemouth International Airport clearly don't want their jobs if recent experience is anything to go by. I have had the experience of this by flying out of there twice in a month. Once to Ibiza in June with Ryannair and I have just got back from Corfu flying with Thomson. I remember the days of Bath Travel when flying from Bournemouth was such a luxury. Having an airport not ten minutes away from your home and with happy smiling people was such a novelty. Since it has been sold to Manchester Airports I have noticed a very big decline in Customer Service. Lets start with the airport itself. To pay £2.50 for half an hour drop off is just a rip off and encourages people to be dropped off at the road before the airport. In the grand scheme of things £2.50 is not a lot but when hardly any other airport in Britain does this it makes you feel that you are somehow being scammed. The toilets are fine but there is simply not enough of them especially when it comes to last minute. I do like the Duty Free shop and the WH Smith the cafe is also fine and very clean with a wide range of dishes. When I flew to Ibiza in June I had my trusty clear sandwich bag which I have used at Gatwick various terminals at Heathrow and Southampton. This wasn't an issue here. Fast forward three weeks later to last week where I was stopped and told that my clear bag was too big and I needed to buy one of their bags for £1. (Gatwick and Heathrow hand these bags out for free so yes another way for Bournemouth to make money out of you). When I tried to say that I had used it three weeks before and it was fine the security guy simply told me that the other person shouldn't have let me through. I get the feeling that it depends which jobsworth you have on that day. Now my real reason for deciding to complain is the fact that Bournemouth airport offers online check in. We had reserved seats for both flights but checked in anyway to print the boarding passes. 20 minutes later I have filled in all their questions online with our details etc however unlike the big airports they don't offer a 'bag drop which I wasn't aware of and isn't mentioned online and which also meant that we still had to queue for 40 minutes and then a further 20 minutes at the check in desk while the Check in Clerk weighed our bags hand luggage checked our passports and documents even though we had already printed out our boarding passes. All this was done without a word or a smile. I don't see the point in offering a 'check in online' service if you still have to go through the usual process. The airport is simply too small and the airlines cannot be bothered to provide enough staff I am afraid that this has turned me back to the biggies or even Southampton. The only advantage to this airport is that it is so close to home. I will happily travel the distance to Gatwick again.

We arrived on foot at Bournemouth Airport to find no pedestrian access and were forced to walk the last 100m in the road to get to the terminal putting us at risk of an accident. The security staff were slow unhelpful and unpleasant and the searches overzealous otherwise OK.

Hurn Airport has never been great and is weak when compared with Southampton Airport. Their new 'dangerous to walk' to the Airport route to force people to drive in (footways have been removed). Lack of integrated transport options (no connecting buses relating to flights). Overzealous searches at any opportunity. The specified 20cm x 20cm plastic bag requirement for liquids (if it isn't you go to the back of the queue). Staff complaining to each other that there are too many people going through the checkpoint when a plane is scheduled to take off and also when you land why are you subjected to a 40 minute wait at Border Control and the queue goes across the apron for a least 15 of those minutes. Bournemouth - If you want to attract customers you need to take a serious look at your services and make travelling a delight. You are far from this.

I would recommend Bournemouth Airport but not the Swissport check in - we checked in for the Thomson Gran Canaria flight on Monday 1st April at 6.am. Unfortunately out of the 3 check in rows we got into the Swissport one. Our baggage including hand luggage was 3 Kilos overweight. Our own fault we hadn't purchased extra weight in advance. We told her we were quite prepared to pay the charge but no there would be no sport in that! The check in staff membber had us moving things from one bag to another. Then after all this charged us££39 which we could have paid 10 minutes before. The woman was extremely rude and quite unprofessional. On our return flight from Gran Canaria our luggage weighed the same as the outward trip and our hand luggage was not even weighed.