Geneva Airport

Travelled several times during the last months using GVA. Overall the airport is functional and pleasant to use. Major problem is going through security I don't know how they manage it but it always takes ages to clear security even when there are only a few travellers.

LHR-GVA return in Jan. Queues are as awful as 4 years ago and reminiscent of Shanghai's domestic airport (Hongqiao) before its upgrade last year. Convoluted flow system both for arrival and departure and insufficient space for the passenger volumes. Arrived 2 hours before my flight back to LHR and every check-in counter including business class was maxed out with luggage overflowing everywhere as it's ski season. Dining facilities improved but all options are horribly expensive with a Burger King meal going at around SFr15.

Getting worse and worse. Who in their right mind designs one security area for all departures? Who puts customs at the end of a moving escalator so you all fall into each other? Coming into Geneva again faced by two customs offices but most people do not know as they face the opposite sides so have to fight your way through an angry crowd to get to the other side where there are seldom people. Toilet cleanliness is poor. Only good thing is the food choice which is much better. Unless they take notice of feedback this airport is to be avoided if you can.

All I can comment on are the endless queues. After arriving with plenty of time for my flight I spent all of it in queues. The Easyjet check-in was a shambles lots of people forced into one long queue not all kiosks were open so staff unable to handle volume efficiently. You have to check yourself in at machines before joining the queue so everybody were doing was dropping off bags. After that queue security was crazy. You could choose from one of four queues with about one or if you were lucky two security points open. This was for all flights so queues again a nightmare. Easyjet gate was of course the farthest away so by the time I got there we were boarding so joined yet another queue. If Geneva airport wants people to spend money at the airport they should think about making the whole process more efficient so we actually have time to shop.

Restaurant food and drink facilities are very poor what there is is very expensive. In the so called Tax Free shop prices were astronomical. As I go to the Alps the large baggage handling point staff can get really irate if you try to get something through which may be okay coming into the airport but getting out is a major problem for them. The man forcefully insisted I go and buy some Swiss Francs and buy a cardboard carton to put my bike in just so handling staff can put it on a belt and no receipt given either. At Heathrow as long as I've turned bars around and put the saddle down they'll take it as is this saves me having to carry packaging around Europe.

I have been a user of Geneva airport throughout the years and it is becoming a very low cost airport in terms of services facilities and comfort. The only thing that has improved at Geneva is the duty free area it is far too big for such a small airport.

I fly in and out of Geneva every week. All I can say is that the experience is getting worse and worse. The security queues are pathetic considering the whole system has been replaced.

This is one of the worst airports I have visited. The main issue is that they queue everybody together both at check-in and at security check. Even if you do online check-in or you use the machines to do the check-in you then need to queue together with everyone else only to drop in the luggage! With such a system you always need to be at the airport at least 2 hours earlier and even more in more crowded times. In addition the parking areas are not enough and often you are re-routed to the EXPO area from where you need to walk even in uncovered areas.

Having used GVA twice a week since January I can say that it is on the whole a pleasant experience. I always check-in online and so bypass the check-in desks but I can imagine that during peak periods it can be a frustrating experience the same can be said for security. I mostly travel during the early/late afternoons so security is rarely busy when it is I find it efficient and the staff courteous. My only gripe is those passengers that block the conveyor with their trays even though there are signs saying to keep moving. Once through security the departure area is airy and fairly well designed if you want to get away from the crowds follow the signs to the smoking lounge on the upper floor there is plenty of seating outside this lounge and it is never busy. I do find that the food is expensive and overall duty free is really no bargain.

Extremely poor experience at Geneva airport - I rate this as one of the worst airports I've passed through in terms of their absolute inability to handle busy periods. We went through on Jan 8th which coincided with Russian holiday and as a result the place was busy with skiers heading home. However there was no system for the check in process; we all had to mix it together a long snaking queue for about 1hr to get to our check in desk - having finally been checked in we headed to security where we spent another 50 minutes standing in line while shuffling slowly forward - a horrible experience! The only positive I can pull from the experience was the rather lovely restaurant on the top floor where we abandoned ourselves for 90 minutes before heading for check in - it was pricey but provided gorgeous fare and is the only reason for those 2 stars the rest left a lot to be desired.