Glasgow Airport

I think this has to be one of the worst airports in UK. Just about impossible to access with public transport. If you dare to park out with the ridiculous drop off zone (which can take 30 minutes to access) at the hire car area you're instantly chased by the over zealous traffic wardens who treat everyone as a potential threat. Once inside its just as bad. Place looks like building site and security wait is awful. Okay having 10 security scanners but never seen more than two working. Awful array of shops again and as mentioned having to walk through duty free. In duty free there are many obstacles on main walkway - surely a fire hazard. On return its worse. Where previously exit was very quick we now have to endure a lengthy walk to the baggage reclaim more time wasted. All in all its a disastrous place.

The new SkyHub security concept works really well however on exiting you have to navigate a busy duty free shop full of pondering shoppers that is literally right there as you struggle to get your shoes back on. The development is clearly unfinished and for some reason you are prevented from accessing the shops once you enter the domestic pier I have NO idea why this is as anyone arriving from this pier has cleared security at a UK airport and so can hardly be a security risk if they are connecting. Just another stupid bloody rule we have to obey without question. The easyJet domestic pier is almost falling down by now and the BA lounge is generally empty as easyJet offer a better option to London nowadays.

GLA-STN with Easyjet. First use of this airport after completion of the Skyhub development. The development has done two things: (a) it has combined the security checkpoints from international domestic and T2; and (b) it has shifted back the checkpoint so that many shops which were landside are now airside. At first glance this has worked - security took less than five minutes (at 5pm) and if one does have to queue there is far more room to do so. The Easyjet 'gate terminal' (Gates 9-10-11-12 on the eastern pier) is functional although its orange decor gets a little garish after a while.

Check in at T2 was very quick and through security rather quickly even though there were quite a few flights around the same time. Arrived back a few days later at EasyJet pier and got busses to international arrivals. Passport control was very quick and collecting luggage wasn't too bad either. I couldn't fault the airport except for the price at one of the grill bars.

GLA was my local airport until about seven years ago so it was interesting to see it again after that period. Sorry to say I am pretty unimpressed. The outside is a mess - arriving at the terminal is like landing in Beirut during the civil war. Just finding your way inside is an achievement in itself. The airport is trying to trade well beyond its realistic capacity and this shows in many ways from dirty toilets (my wife described the ladies toilet opposite the bottom of the escalator as "disgusting beyond belief") to inadequate baggage handling overcrowded security and slow passport control. Waiting to board a flight at Gate 52 I found myself trapped in a claustrophobic windowless shopping mall where the departure of aircraft was clearly of secondary importance to the main business of retailing. Glasgow is the greatest city in the world and deserves better. EDI only 40 miles away is an infinitely better and more civilised airport nowadays.

Arrived 0001 Monday 2nd June 2008 to pick up my daughter on a delayed Globespan flight (20hours approx) The flight was not even listed on the arrivals board and I had to make enquiries with the security person in the arrival hall. I asked why it was not showing (Very disconcerting when you have somebody to meet and the plane doesn't exist according to the airport authority!) In fairness she did make enquiries and even requested that the flight be listed on the board but this never happened and the flight was still not showing when it landed at 0211hrs. Come on Glasgow/BAA get your act together this is basic stuff.

Why does BAA not do something to improve things at Glasgow Airport. Flight to Palma was fine (wtih Globespan) as was return flight but that's when the irritations start. It was 9.30pm on a Thursday and the 'international side' wasn't open - so they bussed us to an international door from the domestic gate. We were in seats 1A and 1B and because they were only using the rear door for disembarking we were last off the plane!! A KLM flight from Amsterdam arrived just after us so by the time we got to passport control there were hundreds of other passengers in front of us and 3 staff on duty (2 for EU citizens and 1 for non-EU). This is very poor and gives a poor impression to foreign visitors. All of these problems and delays are caused by one thing - lack of staff. Come on BAA get yourself into the 21st century. We have been in airports all over the world and Glasgow consistently under-achieves.

I regularly commute through Glasgow Airport and remain astounded at how consistently poor it can be despite some great staff. Yes the security incident last year was dreadful and people have coped admirably but this should not allow BAA / Ferrovial to gloss over the underlying issues with an airport that is "overtrading" until the extension is completed. Until this happens some simple things could be done to make our lives easier and some real bugbears exist. On International arrivals why is the moving walkway always closed for maintenance / switched-off as it was on January 25th? They do not however switch off the message "you are approaching a moving walkway" - actually it is not working - first impressions count and this is not good. Why does baggage always take around at least 30 mins to arrive as it did on February 2nd (as usual)? Most airports around the world are much faster than this and BAA have to take a hard look at itself on this one - are the baggage handlers understaffed? It certainly looks like it and if they are they have my sympathy what with the growth of the airport. I recently used the new SkyLounge and overall it was a pleasant experience with nice staff. On a recent ski holiday flight I was subject to the usual crowd of happy skiers all off on their break and Glasgow Airport was struggling to cope. There appeared to be a "manager" running around with a walkie-talkie telling check-in staff not to overload the baggage belts - whilst we were all standing there. I am not sure what good this did as in my case it just seemed to annoy the check-in staff all the more on what was clearly a day that they all dread (with some justification it seems). There are some highlights. The "mature" gentleman in the whisky area of the duty free shop is very knowledgeable and friendly and the Caffe Nero is very small but has great staff and coffee. All in all this place is saved by the generally good natured attitude of the staff despite some inconsistent management practices and general failure to recognise that people are not likely to accept this mess without having a voice. It's all very well expanding the retail side of an airport but the priority should be a "back to basics" campaign from the top down in terms of customer experience in simple things like check-in baggage and moving walkways. I have never met anyone who wanted to spend more time than necessary in an airport - so how about helping us all reach that goal?

You are now dropped off at the car parks and have to walk to the terminal building. Due to checking in on-line the day before I was able to check my bag in very quickly and spent the time before departing wandering around the limited choice of shops and having a meal. Overall I’m not that impressed with Glasgow when compared to other airports I have flown from.

Re. I Mitchell's comment. I don't disagree with the comment but for information only they have actually just started work on a new extension to the terminal which should radically improve matters. Due to open in late 2008.