Geneva Airport

Not Verified | This is one of the world's truly awful airports. Everything is chaotic from check-in to departure. There are no trolleys at the car hire drop offs, queues extend for miles, there are literally no lifts to assist families with young children / prams / luggage through the terminal, bathrooms are aged and dirty, and there is no signage to indicate the length of time it takes to get to gates, or indeed to warn you that you will have to clear a huge queue at passport control just before reaching your gate. For added joy, passengers are often inexplicably required to descend, ascend, descend then re-ascend staircases for no apparent reason. Limited space is no excuse for such a badly organised terminal (London City airport is tiny but very efficient) - if you get the choice- chose another airport and get a car / train transfer- everything else works in Switzerland - just not this airport!

✅ Trip Verified | Ugly, smelly steel structure with no airport lounges open all night and a few very uncomfortable seats. Help deal lady very brisque and unfriendly. Experiencing this horrid airport has put me off wanting to visit Switzerland at all ever!

Not Verified | Flying in and out of Geneva airport on a regular basis, it's an endless queuing system. On arrival from non-Schengen average of 20 to 30 min for immigration followed by queuing to purchase a train ticket from the machine (either at baggage reclaim or Train station). Departure is very poor in the winter. Queue at check-in if you have baggage to drop off, queue to get to security, queue for security itself and queue for passport control. Weekends are the worst and the 60 min limit is not enough. Arrived 120 min prior to departure (hand luggage only) and got to the gate 45 min prior to departure for a flight which was not full. Queue management for departure has to change. With all that queuing there is no time to browse the shopping facilities offered at the airport. This is not a bad thing as the prices of drinks and snacks are exorbitant.

✅ Trip Verified | One of the worst airports I've experienced in a long time. Small, crowded, ceiling leaking in various points, dark with ceiling lights not working, not enough seating, long queues for check in and security. Airport lounge not available as overcrowded after walking up 2 flight of stairs with pram and children because lift out of use even having the correct tickets to use. And to people thinking Middle Eastern and African airports are worse, don’t fool yourselves this surpasses them by far.

✅ Trip Verified | Cynical security system. There were delays at baggage drop-off due to airline mistakes, therefore I arrived at security line later than advised. The line was really long. I asked an employee that was managing the crowd flow if there was a possibility to cut the line as I might be missing the flight, she said: “We don’t do that here, It’s your fault.” I tried to explain that I was stuck at bag drop but she walked away. I agree that there has to be a structure in airport security with such a large flow of people, but I didn’t expect that it would that harsh and inconsiderable at GVA. I assume it was not her decision, but a rule from management, yet I was surprised how cynical it was. I was late due to an airline mistake, but she didn’t care to hear. I ended up asking 10 people personally in the line in front of me if they minded if I jumped them over and they were kind and cooperative. I manage to run an catch my flight in the end but if was a stressful experience. GVA should hire a service designer.

Not Verified | Worst airport I saw to date. I have been to many other airports but a city like Geneva deserves a much better airport. No sitting arrangement. No proper wifi. Staff are really horrible. Toilets are third class. Avoid being here at night.

✅ Trip Verified | A pretty small airport and crowded, the furniture is old however the transportation is very convenient, there is a train station just under the airport and could reach anywhere in Switzerland. The passport control space is too small even for just one A330 arrival and also very slow. Not a very good experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Third world airport. Toilets overflowing with faecle matter. Staff unhelpful. Departing from the French section: no access to decent food or shops despite being able to view them through the glass doors. Over crowded seating downstairs. Have traveled across the world but this relates as one of the poorest. If this is an example of how the Swiss look after their tourists they clearly do not appreciate their business.

✅ Trip Verified | Found GVA to be a functional airport. You can't really fault it for speed. Arriving and departing I was out of the door within 10 mins. I particularly like the free WiFi allover the airport. Access is for 2 hours. GVA does need refurbishment as in some places it is showing it's age. However the place is clean and the transport is right outside the door. The worst thing about GVA airport is the atrocious prices of food and drinks. A bottle of water is 8 USD and a plate of food is 25 USD. By any measure this are perhaps the highest prices in any airport worldwide. I advise to prepare food from home if you're going to be here for sometime.

Not Verified | Leaving Geneva, I was stopped by a customs agent. I have dual nationality, French/American and have not always had clear indications of which passport to travel with. I fly between Canada, the US and France (generally leaving from Geneva) about every 3 months. I generally use my US passport, under the apparently mistaken impression that you should use the same passport for a trip. I had seen this customs agent answer other passengers questions and then roll her eyes at their stupidity. She looked at my passport and started asking me questions and then said that I should be put in prison. It turns out that I should use my French passport in Europe and US passport in North America, thus changing mid-trip and gave me a lecture about the Schengen space, which Switzerland apparently belongs to although it's not part of the European Union and then repeated that I should probably pay a big fine. I don't mind being corrected and given correct information - I could deal without the eye rolling and the threatening (I'm a 70 year old woman). She certainly did not leave me with a good impression of the Swiss. I must say that this is the first time in my traveling like this (dual nationality) that I have been stopped and threatened with jail.