London Stansted Airport

I have been using STN now for 4 years and in this four years it has improved from very poor to excellent. I would prefer to use STN over LHR (apart from T5) and over LGW. Security is now a breeze with many lanes open and never waiting time longer then 15 minutes even in the busiest times. Both landside and airside have a good variety of retail stores not as many as LGW or LHR but at the end of the day it is a low cost airport. Satellite 1 and 2 are connected by a train so no need for a long walk and if you are flying on FR walking times are not any longer then at LGW when leaving from furthest gates and certainly much shorter then at some other airports (AMS CDG etc). Airport itself feels very airy light and refreshingly new. Arrivals have been done up and now the immigration flows quickly especially if you travel on a new passport with the chip as you can use the automated barriers. It is a shame that it is mostly a low cost airport. STN deserves so much more.

Nothing especially bad or good about the airport. What I don't like with most London airports is that they're far from the city and transportation costs a lot (and I mean a lot) even when it takes an extremely long time to reach the city centre. This one is no exception. Apart from that very "low-cost" feeling not the best airport to wait in but I had no problems there.

Arrived in STN from Dublin on Ryanair. A bit of a trek to immigration but ryanair seem to like the far flung closer to runway gates. Joined the EU/UK queue and after a minute or so the guy at the desk realised that an ROI flight had landed stood up and directed us to a door on the left where there is no passport control due to the common travel agreement. All in all from gate to easybus transfer roughly 25 mins. I can't comment on check in as I departed on the same day with online check in. Security could have been faster. Quite a long queue with many scanners not in operation. And then the trek to the gate. All in all a good experience bar a few little niggles. Transport into London could be a bit cheaper. Easybus cheapest at £13 return but takes a while. Could do with a few more security staff. Other than that airport is nice and airy a welcome change to Dublin's cramped feeling arrivals (low ceiling) and packed departures (even at 0500).

I use Stansted often since for Ryanair it pretty much connects Glasgow Prestwick to the rest of Europe. I have slept in the airport twice now and each time they seems to bump the air conditioning up (In England Mid October) so that there is a real chill about the place also a few less armrests on their awful seats wouldn't go amiss. The number of people queuing up for 6am to 8am departures is quite staggering. You build it and they will come. Security Q's are always a bit long and staff abrupt. Airside is typical shops. This airport is clean. Flying back in at 11pm can be a bit hit or miss with runway opening times. My major gripe and its a major one is transport costs to and from London center. It is pure madness (though an excellent service) that a one hour plus National Express journey will cost you £10 single. This is one of the priciest airports to get to and that is a real hindrance - surely some cheaper or more subsidised option could be introduced easyBus tried in vain to increase competition here but in the end raised their prices to 50p less than Terravision.

Stansted is always good to arrive into and always bad to leave from. Arriving requires a little bit of a haul to the baggage area but it all works as intended and you can be out quickly. Thumbs up for that. Departure is where the well thought out Stansted plan fails badly. Too many people for the terminal to cope with. The departure area is cluttered with too many shops and check in is too close to the doors leading to jostling crowds. Very bad. Then security is almost always under-manned leading to long queues. There is no excuse for this the process here is broken and is down right annoying. Once you get through the same problem exists as outside. Crowded inadequate waiting area with far too few eating options Again Bad. So arrive at Stansted and leave from somewhere else is my advice

I think that it has all been said before but lets compare the recent experience at Stansted with Tenerife airport Long queues at Security at Stansted with security staff rather harassed. At Tenerife much more efficient. Took about a quarter of the time to get through. Outside Tenerife airport fleet of Taxis waiting you just hop on at Stansted you have to go to a desk and order one then wait for it to turn up. Cost of food and drink at Stansted way in excess of Tenerife prices. I could go on but you have got the message. I have found the same at Malaga airport the Spanish just seem to do it better.

Judging by previous comments the Stansted experience seems to boil down to timing and perhaps just luck and mine held for a 0645 flight out on a Mon and a return on Fri Sep at 1255. I was fortunate in that I had a lift to the airport so there were no parking issues and arriving at 0520 I was air- side at 0600 ready to board. Coming back I was through passport control (note though I went to the far left where queues were definitely shorter rather than just joining the ones seen straight ahead from the shuttle-train doors) reunited with my bags and starting home by 1330.

What can be said that hasn’t already been said? There’s always a worrying wait for the car park bus then a long journey. If you’ve not done it yet allow 40 minutes in case you’ve just missed a bus. Exit signs out of the car-park are inadequate even when it’s an airport you know. Outbound journey was delayed on 29.07 so there was a gate change and inevitable rush to join the new queue not popular with ‘first come first board’ airline passengers. The return journey was also delayed resulting in a half hour wait on the tarmac. If the passengers knew what time the rescheduled landing was it’s a bit worrying that Stansted didn’t and so did not have ground staff available. What if there had been an emergency? It can be no surprise to the airport authorities to find a plane has landed. Just hope it’s not two at once that are late which given that the delays were attributed to air traffic control seems pretty likely. Passport control is an utter insult with a scrum to join the queues while non EU citizens get through with little delay. There are no toilets in the area which is also a disgrace after delays. Avoid the toilets in the baggage area! The ladies’ toilet stank of urine and the cubicles are tiny even for a fairly small adult. Once through passport control without luggage it’s a matter of luck how long it takes to get to your car. Last night (31.7.08) it was a fairly typical one and quarter hours from landing to car longer than it took to drive the 60 miles home. Stansted expand? It can’t cope now so forget it.

I was pleasantly surprised that for our journey to and from Stansted how well everything went. I found it superior to Heathrow. Security fine immigration fine and airport facilities were good. My expectations weren't high but really there was nothing I could complain about.

I was surprised to get through Stansted security into the departures lounge in about ten minutes flat. There seemed to be more scanners working and staff ensured the passengers were divided up between those open. Thankfully I did not have to take my shoes or belt off either so I found myself airside without the ordeal I remembered from a previous visit. It is worth noting Boots the chemist has a retail outlet airside as well as landside and both have the ‘Meal Deal’ at the food section. One can pick a snack a sandwich wrap or salad plus a drink for £3.49 which is much cheaper than many of the other airside outlets. The gents toilets could maybe do with a bit more cleaning but all in all it was a nice easy journey through the airport.