Edinburgh Airport

Security staff are intimidating. I was refused fast track access because my printed boarding card did not show fast track but my mobile app downloaded pass did. Rather than feel further humiliated I walked back to the main security queue knowing they had made a mistake. Finally, when you are pulled aside to be scanned and searched, your personal Possessions are left unattended for long periods of time. This makes me nervous in case someone walks off with my personal possessions. When I challenged this with an airport supervisor I was told "well that's why we have cctv and there have been zero reports of theft since the new set up!" That did not reassure me in the slightest.

Of the 4 relatively recent departures (June, July, November 2016 and 6/01/15), transiting Edinburgh Airport, I have been body-scanned 3 out of the 4 occasions. Much as they trot out the usual reassurances, it does not sit kindly being 'microwaved' more than not. If you deliver protestations, they make such a tra-la-la of offering up an alternative, that you end up giving in so as to make your flight on time. This time, the activation was shoes apparently. Why do they not, therefore, prior have us remove our shoes. This time, there was, however, someone to help you with your full trays, as you are required to move them off one belt onto a 'sort-out-your-stuff' section. He was actually pleasant and had a smile: this not, heretofore, witnessed in transiting the Edinburgh security clearance area. The hygiene of the trays is also dubious, much akin to overused notes in a currency, when comes the time to issue new ones. I continue to be irked by the distance between your possessions being shuffled along and what is happening to you, separately. Whilst writing comments on the feedback flip chart, situated after being processed, a nice-to-talk-to and apparently-concerned 'suit' appeared and we had a friendly and helpful post-experience discussion about my comments. I will say that they are making the big effort. That said, I really do not like so much body scanner, and no number of reassurances are going to quiet my underlying unease especially when you are put through it almost every time, without fail.

Edinburgh has introduced a security system that is user friendly, especially for the regular traveller. The departures hall has a good choice of food options with pleasant settings. I can choose a number of airports to depart from but this is becoming my preferred option.

At security, they treat you like a child but expect you to be a heavyweight. I am directed like a school-child (typical of the long-standing bossy culture) to stand at a designated spot, then I must wait and step forward and bend down to retrieve a rather big, heavy, vertical tray from under the shelf, then lift/manoeuvre this tray on to the horizontal. Then I can start putting my stuff on the tray. To put my IPad on to a separate tray (as indicated on the pictogram on the tray), I have to manouevre up a second tray, which is actually more difficult since the design is for one tray per person. Then a slight, middle-aged woman standing watching me from the other side of the tray tells me to move my tray across on to the belt. When I asked her why she was there and was it not her job to do this she replied with a shrug "No: health and safety". When I asked about my health and safety in executing the same movement, she shrugged. And when I asked about my health and safety in having first to manouvre two heavy trays, she shrugged again. I wrote to Edinburgh Airport about the different health and safety standards applied to passengers and staff. I got a reply from a Security Manager, much of it a pack of lies about how my luggage had an overhanging handle and that was why I had to go back to check-in. For the record, I had checked in one piece of luggage, and my hand luggage consisted of one small (10 litre) backpack. She wrote that the equipment was approved by the CAA which is wrong. She added that the trays were approved by IATA which is irrevelant, other airports manage with smaller trays and with luggage which can be put directly on the belt. She said staff are available to help, but the manager deceives herself. At other airports the culture is that passengers and staff are together. At Edinburgh, the culture is staff against passengers. I could have added further complaints like the long wait for my IPad on its own tray, the operative who took exception to my not understanding her strong Edinburgh accent (and I lived my first 20 years in Edinburgh), and so proceeded to a long and theatrical scan of my IPad. Another complaint is the extent to which you are separated from your belongings, despite thieving operations at the previous security area. And then when you get through, you have to listen to security announcements rather implying that they have no faith in their security checks (and telling you to watch over belongings). These are interspersed with bawling departure announcements of no relevance to 99% of passengers. Then there is the propaganda announcements about Edinburgh Airport being the gateway to the world. More noise, more self-deception.

I have been a regular business user of Edinburgh Airport for forty years and can only agree with all of the bad things that are expressed here so regularly. Here is another one. I can usually plan my trips about a month to six weeks in advance and consequently book parking in advance and get relatively good prices. But that has changed. I have just tried to book for a day trip on December 2nd. Terminal surface price £79.00. For a day trip on January 5th. Exactly the same price. It is all part of their master plan to totally rip off the customer for as much as they can. It is yet another example of the demise of this place. I will be using taxis from now on.

Arrived in Edinburgh at 0630 on Etihad. Disembarked up 2 flights of stairs, then down 2 flights, then had to wait along with 200 others whilst another flight boarded. Had to wait on the stairs in the cold for 12 minutes after an 8hr flight. Arrivals hall is a freezing cold, no frills. Baggage took 45 mins from a plane no more than 100m away. Only 2 male toilets in arrivals hall - it's like going back in time, it's just not geared up for large aircraft.

Landside: Nowhere to sit down unless you're paying for a drink. Check-in staff, (such as they are, now mostly replaced by machines) brusque and unpleasant. Security: tightly controlled, officious, with staff who talk to you like a child. Airside: a decent selection of shopping and nice tarmac views if you can find a seat, but low ceilings and seemingly-constant construction adds to a feeling of claustrophobia. Incessantly loud, nasal announcements very intrusive and stressful. Tables rarely cleaned. As a Scot it's nice to see Edinburgh attracting more airlines and destinations, but the product isn't quite up to scratch yet. Cannot fault the Airlink and tram services to the city however, in terms of proximity and frequency.

Edinburgh Airport seems to go from bad to worse. I used to enjoy travelling from here but now the only reason I use it is that there is a better selection of flights than from Glasgow, where I live. The security procedures are a nightmare, as witnessed by other reviews. Staff are unhelpful and generally unfriendly. It would be easy-picking for thieves in this area, as passengers have to mill around and wait for their belongings. I recently used the Easyjet flight from her to Malpensa and the airport experiences could not have been more different: no self service machines, helpful and friendly staff to help to check in and find your way around the airport and finally, helpful staff at security who made the process as pleasant as it can be. I travel this route regularly, so it is not a one-off. Perhaps Edinburgh could learn a lesson from Malpensa.

Edinburgh Airport's problems begin with the road infrastructure, a totally outdated and unsuitable entrance / exit road for an international airport. The drop off area and associated coach park must be a nightmare for foreign visitors. The check in area is inevitably chaos most of the time due to the self check in consoles now populating the hall. Enough has been said about the security circus! The departure area is crowded with retail to the detriment of the passenger space. I can see why Glasgow Airport is attracting business from the Capital City. A very poor airport for the Capital of Scotland.

Arrivals is relatively painless. Which is good because if it was like departures people would choose to leave by train or bus to get to another airport. It is hard to believe just how wrong they have got departures. The security is a nightmare. It is slow and disorganised. Once you have got over being shouted at to stand at a certain point you then leave your stuff in a tray which may or may not make it onto the moving part of the conveyor belt or if not the next person might just add the contents to their own tray or bag. Elderly / infirm people are expected to carry large trays away from the conveyer belt to an area where they are to be emptied and then expected to return them to the end of the conveyer belt. There are so many people milling around in a small area that if you get stopped to be searched going through the scanner your stuff could easily be away by the time you get to where the trays are. Thieves could have a field day here given how easy it is to leave the airport from the main departures area. The new duty free shop was obviously designed with Ikea in mind as you are forced to go through it with no obvious option to deviate off. If you get about halfway around there may be a door to toilets which you can then leave by another route and miss the checkout queues. With a low ceiling and bright lights It is about as claustrophobic as it gets and I went through at 8.30pm on a Thursday. It must be living hell at busy times. The airport gets a 1 as the review system won't allow a zero. I would however like to congratulate whoever designed this mess and managed to get paid for it. I am clearly working in the wrong job.