Luton Airport

Blighted by the most surly and aggressive security staff this overgrown over-capacity collection of tin sheds is bereft of any concept of customer service. Security and immigration queues are frequently horrendous and premium charges apply at every turn: including getting anywhere near the terminal or through security in a reasonable time. Don't be fooled by the "London" prefix either: it's miles away. I go out of my way to avoid this awful airport.

Total chaos in passport control on arrival. Plane landed on time did the usual lugging of cases to find only 2 desks open and a queue into the far distance doubling back on itself. There was not a single official around to speak with. It was at least 45 mins before the queue began to inch forward when it appeared several more border control people came back to work and a couple of officials started waving their arms around as if they had only just woken up to the chaos. We finally got through after about an hour. Why were millions spent on the epassport system gates and they are not used to speed things up? Why is there not a separate lane just for UK citizens? I will do everything possible to avoid Luton airport in future.

If you are travelling on an early flight from Luton Airport on a Saturday morning allow at east 3hrs to check in and get through security. If you want to relax in the departure lounge and not have to run to gate allow even more time. Even better - use another Airport!

A terrible place to fly from and needs serious improvements. However as most passengers are UK residents who choose to fly budget or charter airlines they are not going to. The main problem is that Luton was designed to handle at most a couple of million passengers a year. It now handles nearly ten million. Therefore things like access are a major problem. The only road to the terminal is a single lane road which is often gridlocked. I've not taken public transport there so can't comment. There is no rail station on the airport. The short stay car park is overpriced and falling apart. It is difficult to find trolleys which you have to pay for. There is no cover so you may have to walk 1/4 mile in the rain. The terminal has all the facilities one would expect an airport to have. Security was quick and trouble free. In departures there is only a limited number of shops and restaurants. The only reason I choose Luton is that it's the only airport to have budget flights to the destination I require. I wouldn't recommend it. It is very dated.

We arrived with plenty of time trapped in that grinder they call security (4 open out of 10 on Sunday evening) our flight called for last passengers we were directed to the so-called fast desk we ran only to find out that the flight has left. Even if the boards had shown the correct gate I am sure we could not have got there on time. The very routine approach from staff was to get us out of the secure zone purchase a new ticket and show us a hotel list while we wait for tomorrow's flight. Even as we strolled through without a queue on a quiet Monday I noticed the time interval between your go to gate message and take off is suspiciously short. The lack of planning and basic convenience of departing from here is more than laughable: I suspect it is intended to hinder you and cause you additional costs. It appears to me that the airport company EasyJet and the local hotels earn more revenue during the chaos. Avoid if possible pay whatever is needed to go somewhere else.

Luton is a dreadful airport if you arrive by car have to check-in at a desk have hand luggage want something to eat or drink want some degree of comfort. If you are happy to stand around in a boarding room/gate forego drink etc then it's okay. I wonder if airport management read these forums. They will argue they handle 10 million passengers a year and these gripes are in the minority. However I am fairly sure that many do not complain simply because the complaints fall on deaf ears. Britain has never been famous for good customer service but Luton airport fails to provide anything but a rudimentary service.

Had to use Luton Airport last week and met the same old problems with security going out. Long queues again and this time was not allowed through wearing my jeans which were studded fashion jeans. Had to remove my jeans and boots for xray purposes which left me standing there semi naked. Long passport queues on return next day. Next time I fly I will use Stansted.

This airport has now become a major embarrassment for travellers. December 2011 my wife and I were forced to buy a Security-Fast-Track pass at an extra total cost of £12 as the security staff were incapable of processing passengers quick enough through security channels. The queue was backed up beyond the escalators leading up to the security area. Like most travellers we arrived in plenty of time for our flight but would have missed our flight if we had not proceeded through the Fast-Track-Pass method which incidentally also had a lengthy queue. On returning from our holiday on January 2012 at 21.15 we had to queue for well over one hour to pass through UK Border control as only 4 EU Passport desks were open. The queues were massive containing many frustrated and angry people. The electronic passport system was also not operational. I really dread to think what it will be like during the Olympic Games. Luton airport will no longer be our preferred airport as the last three visits have been dreadful although we have further to travel we will use Stansted Airport for future flights.

First and last time I will use Luton Airport. Easyjet flight to Geneva December 2011. Huge queues at check- in bag drop queue seemed to go down no faster than the normal check-in. Spent 1 hour in the bag drop queue with a red faced chap from Menzies (Ground Handling) shouting at passengers to get in the right queue. Screens were displaying the wrong information. Eventually a fourth desk was opened and called for remaining Geneva passengers. Ran as fast as possible to security confronted by another massive queue. Got the attention of security staff and told them we were running very late and were in danger of missing our flight. She shrugged her shoulders and walked off. Took nearly another hour to get through security and we missed the flight. Thankfully we got on the next flight. This involved recovering our offloaded bags and going through check-in and security all over again. On return journey waited another 45 minutes for the bags to be offloaded despite the fact ours was the only flight on the board. In short an experience I will not repeat I would rather pay more and fly from elsewhere particularly with children. There are charges for everything and the staff had no interest in making sure people got their flights.

The worst airport I have ever arrived at. I knew it was going to be bad when passengers had to walk across the runway into a small door to arrivals. The passport queue was akin to being in a hospital corridor. The queue snaked backwards and forwards taking 45 minutes to pass because there simply were not enough passport staff - those who were there were surly and unfriendly. The building was dirty and old. Eastern Europe airports I've been to are a million times better than this. The only positive thing was the bus to central London was easy to find and this was a nice journey but nevertheless avoid Luton airport at all costs.