London Gatwick Airport

North terminal the only airport I know where from the drop off point no way of keeping dry getting to check-in when raining and then either lift or stairs to check bags in. There answer is "security" most airports I travel through get round this so why not Gatwick. From taxi or bus or other means of transport they should all be on the same level not much fun when you have luggage kids and buggies. Hate the place.

Through LGW this week going to Turkey. What a joke. On the way out there was a delay at check-in as the belt had broken down and bags were backing up. One gents toilet was closed and other cubicles were blocked and a missing door lock. Airside quite busy the only positive is the new security area which is a big improvement. On return an unbelievable queue for immigration which stretched round several corridors and a shambolic effort to separate inward domestic passengers from international arrivals. Then 45minutes wait at the baggage reclaim - where surprise surprise the belt had broken down. Sadly little improvement from the BAA days plenty of signs around proclaiming the vast amounts of money being spent but I suppose a billion doesn't buy you much these days. I would avoid it if you can.

Smooth and enjoyable through South Terminal. There's a spacious new security screening area. Several areas including the arrival piers have been smartened up with more work still under way coupled with a queue- free passport control on my visit this is becoming a better arrival point to the UK.

Have used Gatwick a number of times this past year and always a long wait at Passport Control. Sometimes only two officers on the non-UK/EU when there are 12 available stations for that section. Yesterday waited an appalling hour and a half to clear. Queue snaked up the ramp it was so far back yet still only a very few officers on duty. Very contemptuous of the travelling public many who are first time visitors to the country. If they can't get their act together they should at least provide a large seating area and let people take numbers and be called. It would be the least one could do for passengers arriving exhausted after long haul flights such as was the case yesterday.

London Gatwick is an airport below expectations. Located near the M23 motorway and with regular running trains and busses/coaches from the South terminal generally transport links to and from the airport are good but are not great from the North terminal. The entire airport particularly the interior of the South terminal is old and dirty with some general dirt and litter around. Both before and after security as well as near arrivals consists of an adequate amount and variety of shops food outlets restaurants with the addition of many other facilities but for an airport of that size I expected much more. Queues are always a big problem with check-in rarely being quicker than 15 or 20 mins security up to 30 mins and passport control normally taking at least 10 or 15 mins. Baggage reclaim is also on the slow side taking up to 10 to arrive and that is on top of the 10 or 15 mins spent at passport control. Overall London Gatwick is a poor airport which has fewer facilities than it should and major problems with queues.

Outward bound to Heraklion-Crete was a reasonable experience. Security clearance was faster than previous experiences due to the recent improvements. The return to Gatwick was awful Passport Control need to take a look at the service they provide and the staff they employ. Close on 1000 people trying to get through at the same time needs some form of control measures in place to ensure there is not a major incident. There were no staff on hand to inform as to what was happening or signs to indicate where people should queue. Many people were close to blows in frustration I personally saw at least 2 incidents where 'normal folk' needed to be restrained. After a stressful journey prepare for an even more stressful hour at Passport Control. At least the baggage is ready when you can get to it.

I rang to arrange assistance 5 days before travelling to Malta. I was told to use the help phone when I arrived. I did this and was told to ring another number. I did this and got an answer machine. I left a message and waited. No one came. I rang the assistance number again and was told that they would send some one immediately. I waited again and still no one came. In the end my daughter and I struggled to get to departures. We just made it to check-in on time. Why do you offer this service if no help is available. Apart from this the staff at check-in/out were very helpful.

Prepare to experience queuing that you only ever get in a theme park on a bank holiday. The easyjet check-in is awful with 30 minutes plus waiting times on every occasion I have visited. There is always something wrong with the baggage system. Getting through security takes an absolute age but the worst is the UK border control. After landing at 1am on a flight from Malaga - I was confronted with pure chaos. There was 4 people working for about 1000 people so we ended up queuing almost 1 hour to get through border control. With hand luggage and 2 small kids who were exhausted and with arguing and people pushing in - this is completely unacceptable.

Departure is not too bad apart from the limited space where the buses arrive from the car parks there is a moving pavement just inside the door which get you into the terminal fairly quickly. We were travelling with Thomas Cook and there was a fairly long queue for check-in which was fairly well organised the passport control and security was quite quick the shopping airside was ok all quite expensive seeing as we were duty free. A good selection of food outlets as always on these package flights a long distance to the boarding gate. Arrival back the nightmare begins again the plane is parked almost as far as you can get away from the main building with only minimal moving pavement a lot of walking up this corridor and down the next only to be greeted by the longest queue to get through passport control none of the few staff gave any explanation one good thing about this wait meant we did not wait long for our luggage. From the plane which landed on time to getting to the car park took 2.5 hrs would not use again.

The new Departures setup in LGW South is as good as any airport in the world now - a few minutes to check-in with Monarch upstairs to the new security area minimal queuing and 16 machines all operational with professional and courteous staff making a big difference. I was shopping in Duty Free within 15 mins of arriving in the Terminal. Arrivals is not quite as slick and can get busy at some times of the day but you're rarely longer than 20 or 30 mins after getting off the plane to get to the Arrivals area landside.