London Gatwick Airport

Not Verified | It was dark and wet when we arrived. The concrete edifice of North Terminal, roadside, looked like some Eastern European bunker. Once the limo had parked up (they can no longer use the overhead access) I then tried to obtain the wheelchair which had been prebooked. The call system that they had did not work, so in the end my driver had to go and get a wheelchair. He pushed me to checkin and after checking in had to go the length of the terminal to the Disabled area. Here I had to wait about 30 minutes before being told I could now go. I think my arrival there interrupted her break as she eat while talking on her mobile. Once in the Emirates lounge I could then relax. I was collected for my flight earlier than advised. Wheeled to the gate access lift only to be told that the Border Force had stopped people joing the flight. So had to wait about 45 minutes in an uncomfortable wheelchair before we were allowed on to the aircraft. We were then jostled by Economy passengers wanting to join the aircraft. Very badlyorganised. It would seem that both ground staff and flight crew could do with some retraining (training ??) regarding Disabled people. I would only recommend this airport purely due to its location and ease of transiting to.

Not Verified | The check in areas in the South Terminal was a shambles. People and queues everywhere. I suspect this was largely down to the inefficient check in staff rather than the airport themselves. Security was busy and the attitude is some staff left a little to be desired. Inconsistent application of the no liquid rule. My wife is diabetic (carries a medical note to confirm) but was not allowed a small carton of orange juice whist another passenger was seen with a large carton of apple juice. Food airside was expensive Arrival from Ireland was a breeze. Efficient baggage reclaim and in car leaving car park within 30 mins of arrival.

Not Verified | The transport links are good, the security queues are efficient, and the general experience is great. I even had to use the special assistance service for an elderly relative, and it was excellent. I live within 10 miles of he airport which means I can be home within an hour of touchdown, but that is as much to do with the efficiency of the security/baggage etc. as well as the public transport links.

✅ Trip Verified | We were traveling as a family (party of 5, including a 70 yo and a 9 yo). And accident near the airport caused us a delay and we arrived at the airport only 1 hour before the flight. The kiosk, didn’t work, so we had to go to check-in. The lady at check-in gave us the wrong boarding pass, so it caused us further delay at security. At security, the staff person wanted the whole family to come back to sort out the one boarding pass with issue, instead of just asking for someone to get all the boarding passes. Also, at security, they are way more strict than most airports about liquid content being in a plastic bag outside of the carry-on. Also, one of the guys that was sorting our bags left it and went to help collect boxes. When I asked him if he was done he told me very rudely to be patient. Then a few minutes later he told me to pick up the bags already (so he was done before). They also questioned some cash we were carrying even though it was a very small amount of money even for one person. Also, they picked someone’s bag to sort through before ours even though ours was ahead. As we ran through the airport to get to the gate I desperately asked for the airport trolley driver if she could give us a ride and she said no. I didn’t have time to try to understand why, but we almost missed the flight because of a combination of airline error and airport staff neglect and rudeness.

✅ Trip Verified | To start with a positive. Arrived from Dubai A380 and baggage was being delivered on the carousel as I arrived in the baggage hall. Very impressed and thanks to the hard working people behind the scenes. Negatives...who arrives as a tourist from foreign countries with English coins in their pocket to utilise the baggage trolley. Ridiculous and stupid policy. Just adds misery after a very long day travelling. And now the worst thing .....BE WARNED the ATM machines liberally positioned in the airport. I was charged 23% commission. $80 on a $360 withdrawal Outrageous. Yes it does state the exchange rate. However, long day long flight tired looking for bags looking for exits etc etc. For me this is disgusting and shameful greed taking advantage of weary travellers and not what I would expect arriving in England. What impressions of UK does this leave with foreign guests/tourists.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew into the South Terminal then headed to the North Terminal for my next flight. Directions were fairly good, however had a 30 minute wait at baggage reclaim. Self check in and bag drop through Easyjet was relatively painless despite the long queue. My biggest gripe is with the poor choice of eateries in the Terminal. I ended up going to Weatherspoons for a fairly expensive sub-par hamburger and fries. Aside from Wetherspoons there are only a couple of other options, neither of which appealed. The other shops are your standard airport fare, though I noticed some wildly differing prices for the same products in different shops, so it would pay to shop around. As for seating, most of it seemed to be swallowed up by eateries, leaving the free seats absolutely swamped. Having been to all of the London airports bar the City, I can say that Stansted is by far the worst, closely followed by Gatwick. Stansted's excuse is that it caters mostly to budget airlines, I'm not sure what excuse Gatwick can use, airports in Germany, France and the far east boast vastly superior facilities and make for a much better travel experience. Using Gatwick really was a chore, there was nothing enjoyable about it.

✅ Trip Verified | Security is very efficient and quick, staff seemed helpful and friendly. Departure environment is clean with lots of seating - I was impressed to see lots of charging points around the pillars to use. Food options could be more exciting , but there was enough choice for various budgets. They also still offer free premium magazines and newspaper titles that otherwise cost money on the way to the gate which is appreciated and nice extra touch - I picked up a copy of GQ and New York Times, but there were lots of options. Gate area was clean and well laid out with lots of seating, no crowding although once ready for boarding the areas could do with toilets as you have to go back out if you need to go. Arrivals is less good, quite long walk from gates to exit and very up and down which may be particularly annoying for those with mobility issues. Generally a pretty good functional airport, only reason I don't recommend is because it is quite difficult to get to from London and reliant on regional train services which can be unreliable.

Not Verified | Worst Special Assistance ever for my wife who is disabled and was travelling alone. They had the wrong names for the nine disabled people on the plane. Took 5 away in a buggy and left the other 4 to fend for themselves with no information. Eventually my wife had to walk the entire length of the south terminal, retrieve her own bag and then walk all the way to the carpark. My wife can normally only cover about 50 -80 yards before it becomes extremely painful. My wife sent me a text to say the Special Assistance had completely failed so I went to the Special Assistance desk in the South Terminal and spoke to the Concierge and showed him the texts from my wife. He could not find her booking in the system even though it was pre-booked with the airline for both departure and arrival. When I said it was appalling that they had a abandoned a disabled person at the arrivals gate with no help he replied - 'Yes it is appalling, but sorry there is nothing I can do' - they are legally required to provide the service. Worst customer service ever and shows a massive lack of training and basic respect for human dignity.

Not Verified | No issue with the wall from the airbridge to the immigration queue at the North Terminal. We were forced to go to the family queue (travelling with two children), and there were 8 people ahead of us. The first individual ended up being sent to a holding area, the family who were next in the queue had their fingerprints taken, and the next individual was also sent to the holding area! It took 40 mins for these people to be dealt with and finally we had our turn, 2 mins later we were through! The queue behind us was full of families coming from Krakow and the children / babies were all restless. Gatwick immigration should have enforcedthat non UK / EU travellers were not allowed to be in a queue for UK/EU citizens, having one person to deal with the queue might not be an optimal number?

✅ Trip Verified | The security process at Gatwick airport is one of the worst and sadly / annoyingly one of the most frequent I have to experience (it being my nearest). It keeps shocking me how long it takes to get through security and how militant (most of) the staff is treating their customers (the passengers). It feels like an army drill every time, over and over again. I genuinely hate it with a passion. I’m deeply saddened by how Gatwick feels at least 25 years behind.