Faro Airport

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the way staff at Faro Airport who were not only a fantastic help but were also very friendly and were only to happy to take us in the wheelchairs to our flight area and they also took us on to the plane. This was our first time we had uses this service and were a little nervous thank you all again for all your help this made our trip a pleasure.

30th April 2014 arrived at Faro with 2 hours before take off. I fly to Faro 4/5 times a year and have never experienced such a stressful time as I did on 30th April. Easyjet bag drop off area was quick and efficient cannot say the same about customs. I was travelling with a friend and her 2 year old daughter we joined a queue and in total there must of been 300/400 people in queue's. We didn't move for the first half an hour more and more people were coming in but nowhere to go no one knew what the problem was and tempers were starting to rise including mine. It finally took 1 hour 15 mins to get through and even then I got stopped with the alarm going off and had a very unpleasant experience with the woman who was searching me and almost slapped her face. We then got in the passport queue and finally just made the flight by the skin of our teeth. I would love to know what the problem were and do not want to experience that day again ever stress levels were through the roof.

We were more then 2 hours early to the airport and still almost missed our plane. Checking in went very fast but we waited for over 1.5 hour for customs. There were about 300 people waiting in a very hot area. Customs changed the line constantly so people who came later were through customs earlier then others who waited for over 2 hours. People became very mad because they almost missed their plane. Customs did not seem to care. Staff were very slow. There are about 8 passages they used only 3. The shops behind customs did not have any customers because no passenger had the time. An awful experience. Customs should realise that if they continue this behaviour the economy of this area will suffer. I will never fly again from Faro.

Queues were unacceptable. Staff levels too low for amount of traffic. Airport not very modern it's dark gloomy and scruffy. The charge for soft drinks at their bar is ridiculous and the quality bad. Staff didn't care when complained.

In general the airport is not great but is what you would expect for a highly seasoned airport if you go there in the summer you will find rather huge queues staff are not the best but you will find very warm and nice people especially if they are younger. Food is overpriced but you can bring it yourself. It's a typical Low-cost airport so no surprise when you get there. The biggest problem in the airport are the passport control queues in the non-schegen are because many times 6 or 7 aircraft arrive at the same time so yo can expect to be at least half an hour in the queue. Other than that it's a rather normal airport.

Despite having a fairly 'modern' appearance the terminal is dark messy stuffy and dirty. On my last trip out I was once again confronted with extremely long lines at check in and security. Staff at check-in security and two retail outlets were very unfriendly even rude. I can not believe that no-one that works at this airport realizes that the service level of the staff has tremendous and negative impact on the perception of the travelers. I for sure think this is a terribly bad airport and I dread my travel through it every time I visit. Other negative experiences on this trip: misinformation on the flight information screens several menu items in the 'self service restaurant' not available (marked with a hand written sign: 'coming soon') and outrageously expensive toilets out of paper and non working vending machines at the gate. I get the impression that management of the airport is totally incompetent and un-caring. Faro Airport is as bad a promotion of the Algarve as it can get.

I might be very lucky however Faro Airport which I use regularly is fine. People who complain about the staff and queues might take a closer look at what staff are all too often forced to deal with. How many times does the clear message regarding what the arrangements are when passing through airport security? Liquids up to 100 ml are allowed provided they are placed in plastic bags. Simple? Not enough it would seem from the number of folk who seem astonished when given this information yet again on reaching the scanner point. No wonder the queues are sometimes longer than they need to be. The patience shown by airport staff should be the real talking point and not the perceived lack of speed when dealing with our aircraft security. Most travellers of course do anticipate the need to reach the scanner unencumbered by items that require to be placed separately and cannot be on ones person when scanners do their work. However Faro Airport has its fair share of individuals who exert a negative influence out of all proportion to their numbers on the experience of fellow passengers. So we should be encouraging them to take a little time to reach the point of entry ready to place the required items in the separate tray. Also of course ensuring that they have nothing on their person to inevitably trigger the alarm and unnecessarily placing yet more avoidable demands on airport personnel. Overall when passengers extend the courtesy of being prepared for their security arrangements things run more smoothly. This also applies to Duty Free shops when the need to produce boarding cards seems to present some travellers with astonishment to the extent that they then have to unearth the contents of at least one bag before being able to complete what should be a simple transaction. This all takes time of course and leads to frustration for staff and fellow passengers. Overall therefore before rushing to judge Faro Airport and its staff possibly based on a fleeting snapshot take time to reflect on the contribution that you and others have made to the experience.

This July will be my 7th year returning to the lovely Algarve. Last summer we travelled in July (kids school holidays) but previous to that it was always in June. Our experience last year was a complete nightmare. Like a previous post on this site the queues are everywhere and it creates panic with passengers afraid they will miss their flight. On arrival once we left our hired car we queued for the check-in desk - very long wait. Then once checked in we queued for the x-ray hand baggage check - very long wait. Then into the duty free lounge and we had to queue again for passport control. Terrified we would not make our flight. I can only assume the reason for this is peak time travel in July (as opposed to my previous years travelling in June) but now I see from other comments that this has happened on other months. I have to say it is the one thing that dampens my ideal holiday in Portugal - we are returning but I dread the thoughts of those long Queues. Surely they can incorporate passport control as you are going through baggage check x-rays?

Been a few years since I have been through Faro but must admit overall a good experience. Drop off system seems a bit confusing and security still slow but on the whole better than previous experiences.

The queues were made less bearable by jobs worth grumpy and disrespectful staff. Officials need to get a grip on the 30-45 min queues at peak time and use Easyjet's methodology of directing passengers to the next available assistant or security point. The staff badly need training. I'm sure there are good staff too but they need to get rid of the unhelpful and incompetent staff that are sending passengers home with sour tastes in their mouths and who may decide on another destination for their next holiday rather than face Faro airport again.