Luton Airport

Luton seems to want to make a statement that although it's a lot smaller than Heathrow and Gatwick it can handle everything just as well if not better. Certainly having travelled through Luton several times mostly transferring between easyJet flights I have been impressed by the efforts made to make the passenger experience as enjoyable as possible - the modern and clean terminal provides a good range of shops cafes and other services on both sides ample seating and signage is clear. This airport is ideal for the less experienced traveller who likes comfort and convenience and would prefer shorter walks to the boarding gates. Over 30 miles from London but frequent rail services will get you there quickly.

Nightmare trying to drop off or pick up a passenger - you have to pay £1 to drop off/pick up. If you are not sure of your passenger arrival you better not go in the pick up zone until you are sure your passenger/s are waiting for you at the pick up point as you only have 10 mins waiting time for the £1 you pay otherwise you may receive a fine in the post as cameras are operating everywhere. You can wait at the medium term car park for free for the first half hour. Absolute rip off and un-necessary worry when trying to pick up somebody. Personally I wouldn't use Luton airport unless I have absolutely no other choice. You are better off paying a bit extra on your ticket and using another Uk airport.

Luton airport has a mixed reputation and in particular it likes to charge travellers for as many additional things as possible including £1 for dropping passengers off at the terminal £1 for four plastic bags for your liquids (although you are only allowed to use one) £3 for fast track security etc. On the Wednesday morning we flew out the airport was operating efficiently. It took 20 minutes from parking our car in the long stay car park to walking into the terminal queues at non-fast track security were very short and we were through in a few minutes. Actually getting onto the plane was the usual scramble and it was disappointing to see the ground staff at the gate responsible for shepherding us onto the plane deliberately and obviously ignore the requests of a mother whose arms were full of children buggies and bags for help in getting onto the plane. Our return back through the airport was very quick – 15 minutes from landing to the bus (a wait of less than 10 minutes). The airport looks scruffy but for us it worked well.

This is probably the worst airport in the UK. From the outrageous non refundable trolley charge of £2 to the £3 charge to fast track through security (non payers are penalised by huge queues and having to haul suitcases up the stairs as the escalator is for the sole use of the fast trackers) to the horrible messages on continuous loop and signage not to mention the hundreds of stairs and long corridors you have to stagger along with your suitcases - this airport is a disgrace. I can only think that people are so numbed and appalled by it that they have lost the will to complain and just want to get out - quickly. The security staff don't realise that they only have jobs because passengers are there to be checked. I have lost count of the intrusive body friskings I have endured - and the sight of frail old people in wheel chairs having hands thrust down the backs of their seats in search of god knows what has to be seen to be believed. Don't use this airport unless you absolutely have to - if we all vote with our feet then perhaps something will be done!

Sadly it is my nearest airport and is used by cut price airlines - and this shows. Expensive drop off charges and it is no longer free to take the bus to Luton Airport Parkway. Only useful tip - use the free short term parking for both arrivals and departures and validate your parking ticket at the exit from the arrivals hall within the "free hour".

Luton is an acceptable budget airport. The fast trains to London St Pancras can be as little as 20 minutes and the shuttle bus was fine when it got going. Paying for the bus transfer seemed voluntary. Security was ok in terms of speed but there were vicious announcements about carrying only one item of baggage and purchasing clear plastic bags. The waiting area is fine but not exciting and limited eating options. The worst aspects of the airport are the lack of seats and space at the gates and the long corridors with budget plastic signs that feel like hospitals.

For some reason the authorities at Luton have denied passengers any views too see aircraft. Are windows really such an unreasonable demand. Watching planes taxi and park is one pleasure of airline travel to be taken for granted and keeps the kiddies quiet. Luton is a simple and compact airport to navigate. Nothing special in the aesthetic but hardly offensive like the thoroughly vile LGW. Aviance lounge pay as you go - good value and well stocked. Lots of retail and catering. Luton is okay as low fare hubs go but nothing more than that.

Over the years I have flown from Luton I have witnessed a sad demise from what was once a nice little airport to what is now a budget orientated airport and it shows security at anytime of the day is long and slow with some unhappy looking staff although there is a 'fast track security' lane before the main screening area which will charge you £3 for the privilege also the management have now cottoned on to charging £1 for two re-sealable plastic bags for gels etc - also the drop off charge of £1 just about puts the icing on the cake with passengers being dropped off on the approach road adding to the congestion to avoid paying the drop off fee. If you are flying from Luton with Ryanair the airline uses gates 1 to 3 which are the furthest gates from the departure area here is some advice - if you want a refreshment then there is a nice little bar area next to these gates so instead of using the departure area restaurants and to save your legs then use this bar and wait for your flight.

Luton airport has the feel of an airport for cut-price airlines. Since it's so far out of the city and doesn't have a large volume of passengers trains are not very frequent and not fast (compared with LHR for example). The bus to the airport was also late going whenever they can wait till they get a full bus. The airport is strict with the 1 bag policy (meaning laptop bag counts as a bag as does a handbag I'm told). All other airports I've been to are more lenient on this policy. On the plus side security was quite brisk; they had a lot of people to process but had many scanner gates open and people were moving fast. Airside there are some food and goods shops to keep you busy before the flight. I will still avoid flying this airport unless I have plenty of time to throw away and money is tight.

On 3rd Sept 09 at 6:00am the traffic was queuing down to the IBIS hotel. The roundabout heading into the airport was chaos with cars from another direction trying to join the queue to the airport drop off zone. At this point it was a complete bottleneck. All of this is caused by a planning nightmare. Only two small drop off areas are open. There is an other area set aside for customers who have pre-booked but I guess even they have to queue to get in. The two lanes open only have spaces for only about 40 cars and cannot cope with the number of cars arriving and you are charge a £1 even if you are there 10secs. A third area remained closed with a barrier down. Finally some planner has had the brilliant idea of making the outward traffic cross the incoming traffic and has put traffic lights to delay things further. I can only say I found Luton ran smoother when there was a bigger temporary drop off area which was free and the whole place had miles of traffic cones going into the airport. The planners need to get their heads together and sort this out for the passengers rather than money making schemes and preferably not the same planners.