Glasgow Airport

Flew in early morning before 9 am and my fellow passengers and I were stuck on the Pier until a member of staff arrived to open the door to the baggage reclaim area not a great start! Flying out made the mistake of by-passing the landside shops and going straight through security only to discover very little on offer on the other side. Had no money to spend on books so waited at a crowded boarding gate with my iPod. From my experience it's definitely worth doing your homework before you use the airport and if you like the shops stay landside for as long as possible or else bring a good book! Some good points however - terminal layout means several different search points so security queues were not an issue for me. Bus to the City Centre is regular fast and inexpensive although a rail link would be welcomed too.

Glasgow claims to be a major international airport yet we were unable to find any French newspapers at the two airport bookshops. When I enquired why I was told that there was no demand for them!

The drop off and pick up zones are ridiculous especially the pick up. It worked okay before but is now a complete disaster. No space and long queues for tickets. Inside fairs little better with unfriendly staff general unhelpfulness. It's like a disused shopping mall inside with the number of shops and few people using them. All in all a dreadful airport to be avoided. I would sooner drive extra distance to Edinburgh.

Drop off point here is inadequately sheltered and if dropped at the end with a large amount of luggage a long walk from the first available entrance into the airport (got very wet before we even checked in). Picking up not much better small dark pick up area that costs £1 (previously free) taxi driver mentioned a lot of trade now going to the white airport taxis as private taxis can't hang around if someone is late (maybe this was part of the plan?). Not a good travel experience and fail to see any positive aspect of this change from what was there previously.

The free pick up point at Glasgow airport did not last very long. They have now introduced a very small draughty and badly positioned pick up point where passengers have to walk further to get to it and drivers have to pay £1 just to drive in to pick people up. So now there is no way for a passenger to leave the airport without incurring an extra charge of some sort.

Transport links are hopeless especially into Glasgow at busy times on the bus - can often take as long as the flights! The drop off point is awful at busy times and normally chased away from the drop off point behind the multi story. Inside its like a building site and staff unhelpful and often quite rude. It now takes ages to exit being forced down to baggage reclaim area where previously exit was quick. A place to be avoided if possible.

A typical medium sized airport that for the most part works well. However the biggest challenge here is to return a rental car. All a result of a failed terrorist attempt two years ago you have to deal with poor to non-existent signposting that has you snaking through a veritable maze including the "kiss and go" passenger drop off area. Allow extra time for this and be prepared to go around the block to try again!

Transport links are hopeless especially into Glasgow at busy times on the bus - can often take as long as the flights! The drop off point is awful at busy times and normally chased away from the drop off point behind the multi story. Inside its like a building site and staff unhelpful and often quite rude. It now takes ages to exit being forced down to baggage reclaim area where previously exit was quick. A place to be avoided if possible.

Transit through the airport outbound worked very well form the BA fast bag drop through the new skyhub security area- no complaints. Inbound the bags arrived quickly although I still think Glasgow's bag reclaim area is way too small to cope at busy times. The one complaint I would have is the pick up drop off areas outside the terminals for buses taxis etc are still too confused the pick up areas for the long stay off site car park buses is a bit of a walk from the terminal exit and with little shelter on a wet day.

Have used Glasgow many times over the years and although it is showing signs of improvement there are still areas of its development that need addressed. First and foremost I think traffic congestion in and around the main terminal building would be greatly improved with the construction of a rail link between the airport and Glasgow City Centre (and even beyond). It has long been a major gripe of mine that I have to rely on either expensive airport taxis or airport parking and indeed other road links (eg buses) to get to and from my home to the Terminal. An on-site railway station would improve many aspects of Glasgow's service to air travellers. Even small airports such as Southampton have rail links. The recent introduction of a drop-off/pick-up Zone opposite the terminal has nevertheless improved traffic congestion. The Airport's shops and catering services have improved greatly over the years but if you arrive late at night or early morning there is absolutely nowhere (not even a machine) where you can get a hot drink. There are on-going improvements though with Glasgow but they need to speed things up a bit to justify the 'International' tag they so proudly advertise.