Lisbon Airport

This is a modern looking airport but on arrival it was surprising how far it was from our gate to immigration and baggage after a few travelators and escalators the trek became corridor after corridor at least 10 minutes of walking. If you have an e-passport you can use the fast lane machines at passport control. When we went through they were being temperamental but a helpful immigration officer managed to persuade the reader to accept our passports and let us through. Buses into town (bus stop directly outside of the exits from customs - 3.5€) are advertised as every 20 minutes but our wait was far longer than that and some hopeful passengers had to be left behind. We had checked in online and had only hand luggage so at departure we did not have to join any of the check-in queues. Security queues were short as was immigration. The gate was the usual long distance away with a lot of walking. Water was very expensive €1.85 for 500ml.

What a contrast between the smooth arrival and the chaotic departure ! The arrival area is ok my luggage was quickly delivered I used the prepaid taxi counter although it seemed overpriced (22 € to the centre while it was only 10 € including the tip one week later in a regular taxi with an honest driver !). But leaving from Lisbon airport was a nightmare : the check-in area is completely disorganized you need to queue up for approx 30 minutes before getting to the check-in desk and god forbid it is the right counter otherwise you have to queue up again and again ! No ground staff to help you with the queues. Something I would not have expected to live in Europe... Security staff courteous but indisciplined passengers made the queue longer than it should have been. Poor signage if any to find the gate almost missed the flight because of this. Allow plenty of time if you have to leave from Lisbon. Post office closed on a friday morning at 8:30 and the vending machine were inoperative.

The Signage in Terminal 1 is a complete and utter joke - allow yourself plenty of time to navigate this place or you will miss your Flight.

Car Rental return is a nightmare in LIS. There is a single entrance road to a covered car park used by all companies. Unluckily we rented from Hertz who were the last company in the queue. We arrived 90 mins before our BA flight to LHR and still missed it as check-in was closed at least 45 mins before departure. We were placed on stand-by for the next day and charged more than EUR 400 for the privilege. BA would not be flexible with our ticket. The BA Sales person told us this happens a lot. Please be aware.

Not a bad airport but the overall impression of the airport is being let down with the huge queues for TAP european flights in which the queue controllers are working efficiently but you still need to stand in a line for at least 30 mins. I do not think it will be a fun experience in high season. TAP self-check-in is a big joke as you need the ticket number not the reference number in order to use the service which is seldomly stated. Security was a big maze but quick and efficiently terminals and gates are nice and up to date.

Efficient baggage handling and arrivals area. The airport is undersized for Lisbon's dimension and traffic volume however services are well managed as is access to taxi public transportation and the car parking lots. The Departures area is more spacious but organization is less clear. No need for excessive walking or unintelligible circuits in both areas of Terminal 1 or 2 getting around is easy and intuitive besides adequate signalling. (Terminal 2 is only for domestic departures and is slightly noisy inside).

Efficient and friendly airport. Better for connections than its main competitor Barajas- Madrid. Terminal to plane / plane to terminal connection need to be quickened. Lacks a few basic services such as a chapel or subway connections to the city centre and efficient public transport to suburban and coastal areas.

If you are using the main terminal Lisbon airport is easy to navigate and usually efficiently run. The check-in if you are taking a TAP flight can be a little more chaotic because at least for the European flights all open desks serve any flight. The security channel is fast and efficient even at the rush hours. A reasonable selection of eating places but the toilets can still be a hit or a miss affair. On arrivals if you came from schengen countries it is possible sometimes to get out of the airport in less than thirty minutes even if you need to retrieve your luggage.

LIS isn't a huge airport so it's quite easy to get around and it's really close to the city centre. The facilities are good the shops and food concessions are plentiful and reasonably priced the staff were largely very friendly - even in the security channel (where one of the operatives collected the coins I dropped - with a friendly smile). The only down side was the confusing signposting - there's just too much of it.

The airport is improving looks much fresher most of the facilities have been redecorated and renovated. The new Tap Executive lounge looks good to few new shops/restaurants have been added. The smoking area by the arrivals area has gone.