Faro Airport

Appalling. Faro airport is like a third rate tin shack. No air con, no seats, half the shops are in darkness due to a blackout, no free water. A truly appalling experience. Security was fairly swift but staff are rude and abrupt. People are sat on floors, stairs, anywhere they can. Avoid at all costs. Outside looks like a demolition site, inside is about 40c with no air and no electricity. The Portuguese government should hang their heads in shame. An utter disgrace.

✅ Verified Review | Encountered no problems whatsoever with this airport when we arrived here to start our holiday. The homeward journey experience however, was very different. Check in was quick and easy and then came the horrendous part, the enormous and very slow queues to pass through security. With little or no effective air conditioning, it was so uncomfortable. Passengers were herded by staff into several different queues and it was pure pot luck as to whether you got into one that moved continuously. Never have I spent this amount of time queuing in any other airport to go through security. Given the volume of passengers travelling, it seemed crazy that they do not have more security stations. The airport itself is nice enough with a variety of places to eat and drink. There is a variety of shops but it takes so long to get through security that you barely have time to browse. I would also have to agree with other reviewers about the lack of seating at the departure gates. Add to that the offensive drain smell at the departure gate to round off the overall negative experience.

Please see my reviews for Ryanair and Bristol in conjunction with this review. Having requested 'special assistance' the Faro ground staff provided a 'lift' within a few minutes of landing, wheeled me through immigration, retrieved our luggage from the belt and then through to our transport. Absolutely first class service (and with a smile).

After travelling the world this must be one of the worst airport airports that I have experienced. Long queues for check-in (Flybe), No e-check-in facilities, poor air-conditioning, poor customer service and long queues and inefficient staff at security made for a very poor experience. Even the Free WiFi failed to connect. If I had an alternative choice I would take it. Sadly I will be back.

✅ Verified Review | Faro airport is dire! One of the worst airport experiences ever. Massive queues, no seating and the air-conditioning was non-existent when the outside temperature was min 30's. I'll give Portugal a miss for the next few years.

Came through Faro airport in July. Terrible - no air conditioning in some places, lack of facilities, long queues for toilets. Loads of construction work going on, expensive food, not enough seating - makes for very tense conditions before flying.

In the middle of a major re-development, but they could and need to do better. As long standing annual visitors to the Algarve through Faro we know what to expect in terms of facilities, layout etc. Arrival was fine and despite arriving with several other flights in a short time frame we got through Passport control in no time and with a smile and "enjoy your holiday" from the official. Baggage reclaim was very busy but we only waited 5-10 minutes. Through customs into the bomb site that is currently the transfer zone to our hire car. The return trip was much worse. Hire car dropped off, the first sign of trouble was the underpass out of use, so began a trek across the car park and through some temporary buildings/tunnels up to departures. Once there we were into the terminal building aka the sweatbox. With the big divider between arrivals/departures and only a few sets of doors, there is absolutely no air circulating and what air con there might be is massively insufficient. The queues for check in and security were by no means the worst I have ever experienced but beyond that it was a nightmare that ended only once we were on board the place home. There simply isn't enough space, seating or basic necessities like toilets (hence the redevelopment one presumes) airside and what there is wasted with duplicate retail experiences and catering outlets that are staffed by people who make it impossible to provide good customer service. Our flight was then originally called for board at a B gate on the upper level, and then changed to a D gate on the ground floor. Even then, boarding took far longer than it needed to as the transfer bus stood full for a good 15-20 mins before it was allowed to move and let us board. Don't open the gate if you aren't ready to board passengers. Having worked recently myself in a building that is undergoing major reconstruction, I can have some sympathy with the staff who have come in for criticism in other reviews. But with the resources and experience Vinci have from their various enterprises, they could if they wanted, make such a better job of continuing to look after their customers and staff during these difficult times, ensuring that those passengers do not abandon them in the future and use alternative airports in Spain. Given the extended (compared to a UK scheme) period in which the car park/access roads/hire car points were in hiatus, one would hope that lessons have been learnt and the redevelopment will be completed in the shortest possible time frame, with the least disruption to passengers possible. Sadly I am not holding my breath.

Avoid Faro airport, it's the complete chaos ruling there. The whole Algarve feeling was destroyed by inhospitable staff and ridiculous insufficient infrastructure e.g. seating, toilets - duty free shop seems to be the most important part of the airport. Astonishing, that FAO is allowed to operate by offering such a poor service.

Having read other reviews regarding this airport I wasn't really looking forward to passing through it. However we had no problems whatsoever either on arrival or departure. The airport was very busy and there is a lot of building work going on so some signage is a little confusing. The only critism I have is that the toilets weren't terribly clean. Other than that I really could find anything to fault it. Our departure was delayed but this was purely down to the air traffic control strike in France, nothing to do with the airport or the airline. I would have no hesitation in using the airport again.

Horrendous airport. Complete chaos from start to finish. Not enough seating, upstairs cafe closed. No organised security queue system which ends up with people jumping the queue and tempers rising. Just an awful experience. Last year was bad, this year 100 times worth. With this on top of the horrendous car hire experience we won't be returning anytime soon that's for sure.