Faro Airport

✅ Trip Verified | I really cannot understand the continued poor reviews of this airport. I fly, a lot, and this airport is by no means a 1 or 2 out of 10. As someone else has identified, the security on arrivals is rather poor and they do need to address the non-functional e-gates. However, other than that, I find the staff cheerful and helpful, and they are very family friendly (letting us to the front of the passport queue!). Yes, water is expensive, and they should take a lead from others by providing a refill station rather than a vending machine. The duty free area is slightly more expensive than a supermarket for wine, I noted a couple of wine brands that were €2-3 more than Intermarche. It is a bit of a pain going up and down stairs, but I think this is a more of a product of updating the existing design than bad planning. I’ve never had any issues with the lifts or escalators when travelling with the family. Getting better, slowly but surely.

✅ Trip Verified | Faro Airport is a very poor example of modern planning. Enormous, empty halls and outside areas but the facilities and transfer arrangements from check in and baggage drop to departure gate are abysmal. Everything is arranged over different levels and I find the constant climbing up and down stairs very tiring. On 23rd January 2020 after boarding card checks (twice in 20 yards) I headed for the lift to gate 320, lifts not working for able bodied passengers, reserved for several wheelchair users! Escalators out of order! I had to option but to climb about 60 marble steps although it felt like 90 steps with my carry on. On arriving on the next floor I discovered that gate 320 is on the ground floor, another 20 steps down to that. To board the plane there are another 20 metal steps. Why? Why not join the 21st century and build a new Airport on one level?? The Algarve attracts many retired and disabled passengers why was that not taken into consideration when building this new Airport? Only one lift built and that reserved when there are wheelchair users? The Duty Free prices are astronomical as are the prices in the Bars. All in all a very unpleasant experience.

Not Verified | I have just returned from my trip to Portugal and I wanted to just say that based on my experience in the airport I don’t think I’ll be returning. The experience I had at departure was disgusting. I have a severe nut allergy and board with the speedy boarders but was told that I wasn’t allowed and was spoken to in the most disgusting way by the staff. I questioned why and was told I was disturbed people and the flight. I asked for the gentleman’s name and he refused to give it to me. The way that the passengers with special assistance we’re treated from the flight from Faro to Luton was a disgrace and based on this experience I won’t be returning to Portugal.

Not Verified | While out of season and thus not typical, passage through the airport - check in (Jet2) and security - all quick and easy. Facilities all good except the lack of any smoking area. Simply inexcusable. I dislike flying and not being able to smoke I came very close to abandoning my flight and heading for the rail station to return to UK. To compound the insult website says there IS a smoking area, otherwise I would not have come. Disgusting.

✅ Trip Verified | Availability of restrooms throughout the terminal is the only plus. Terrible attitude of every single staff we had to deal with is the biggest minus. Just rude and inefficient in every possible way.

✅ Trip Verified | We came in on Saturday 28 September at 20.45. I estimate that the queue for passport control was about 1000 people, with many empty desks. Due to my wife's disabilities we were enabled to jump the queue. The situation was the same on departure on 5 October for the 20.10 to Gatwick. There were many unused unstaffed passport control desks.

✅ Trip Verified | Faro must be one of the worst airports in Europe. After arriving on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin on September 8 2019, we got placed into an overfilled bus. At arrivals, there were hundreds of passengers trying to get through passport control. Only 3 officers were working and the crowd was wild and threatening. Awful experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Upon arriving at Faro (08/09/19), everything seemed great, disembarking the plane was painless. As soon as we walked through to passport control though it was an absolute joke, I wouldn't say I'm a frequent flyer but have been to a fair few airports over the last couple of years including Zakynthos, Barcelona and Izmir and not one of them was anywhere as badly organised as Faro. We got to the bottom of the escalators for passport control and queued for nearly two hours, subsequently missing our transfer and TUI having to arrange alternative transport for us. There was, I believe 4 passport desks open, none of the electronic ones were in operation either. When we finally reached the queue barriers, the escalator was out of operation and the line of people was up the stairs, god knows how far back. For our return (15/09/19) our transfer arrived at 8.15 am, 2 hours before the flight was due to leave. Check in was the usual fair - this was well organised just very busy. Security, however was another absolute joke. In total it took about 1.5 hours to get through both. Then came passport control once again! Both of us desperate for the toilet, coming out of the loo we were greeted by another immense queue. There were hardly any staff to get hold of, I had to leave my partner, run round to find someone because as we were waiting the last call for our flight was announced. The staff member was golden though. He took us to the front of the line with some other folk in our situation and we literally had to run through duty free and the shopping area took get on our flight, we boarded at 10am. If we had waited in line we would have missed our flight. it was the single most stressful moment of any holiday I have ever been on and when we finally boarded my partner broke down in tears because she thought we would be stranded there. The good points. Airport was clean. Toilets were clean, staff were friendly, didn't get chance to experience anything else. We will never ever holiday to the Algarve, we will certainly never use Faro for Andalucía again either. (The only flight to Seville was a London airport, over 100 miles from home and Faro was closer to our destination anyway). Apart from the ridiculous waiting times the airport was well signed with good services, the departure lounge looked clean and modern with a few bars and eateries and there are toilets aplenty. I cannot stress how useless this airport is based on our two experiences here. I would like to give one star but that would be unfair on the staff there but they still only managed an extra one.

✅ Trip Verified | A truly awful airport, possibly one of the worst in Europe. Upon arrival from the UK in to Portugal the electronic passport gates were not in action and only 4 passport desks were open. With so many flights arriving from around the same time, passport control took over an hour to navigate. Until the last section it was a general free for all with people pushing and shoving towards the front. The airport staff were there but did nothing to help just seemed to be chatting on their radios to each other. As we neared the front we could see those behind us would be even longer as the queue no stretched outside of the passport hall and up the staircase and in to the terminal. On the return, check in took over 40 minutes, security 45 minutes and passport control nearly 30 minutes. Anyone arriving with only 2 hours to go before their flight is really chancing their arm. Suggest you arrive and join the check in queue with an expectation to leave that with 2 hours to go.

Not Verified | After the refurbishment I was hoping for a massive improvement but unfortunately not. Passport control area as chaotic as ever, nobody to oversea it so everyone jumping the queue. The lovely new car rental desks inside closed as usual. So you have to trek outside in 35 degrees down a steep slope with heavy cases on a trolley with no brakes. So after to pick your cases up for the second time you start the assent up the other side, only to be greeted by enormous queues outside and around the car hire buildings which are woefully undermanned. It’s then you realised despite the huge paved area around the offices there are only two concrete benches to accommodate two hundred people. Excellent! The new roof looks lovely a lot of thought obviously went into that unfortunately no thought whatsoever has been put into the customers experience.