Milan Malpensa Airport

✅ Verified Review | The secureity check line took the longest time I have ever experienced. I nearly missed my flight after waiting for an hour just for the baggage check. (Passport check excluded). There were more than ten machines but they opened only 5-6 of them. Also, the customs officer did not speak English. I used to think officers who work in an airport were required to speak at least simple English, not to mention their rude manner when we tried to speak English.

Very long lines for non EU passport holders at Milan Malpensa airport - just 2 booths open. The airport overall is in desprate need of major renovations. The restrooms are dirty, most of the stalls dont have locks, the signs are not clear and from the arrivals hall to the car rental booths is pretty far.

My arrival into Milan Malpensa was in Terminal 2, which looks like an airport from the 1960s. It's maintained poorly and needs renovation. My departure was from Terminal 1, which looks much better and more modern. The duty free shops had only 2 cash registers open. The lines were therefore longer than 20 minutes, which I find unacceptable. My return flights again reminded me of why I disliked the airport so much - the food options are disappointing, with the meals not looking attractive at all. The only positive points I can find is that the staff are friendly and that it didn't take long for the luggage to arrive.

We were flying back from Terminal 2 on easyJet. It was a fairly quiet time but we had to walk miles around barriers designed to accommodate huge queues on the way to security when there were none. Airside there were lots of shops you had to walk through, I thought we were in some Ikea nightmare. Some small cafes with limited seating but otherwise virtually nowhere to sit. When called to the gate we stood in a queue outside it that didn't move for over an hour because there was no-one to check us in to the gate - I don't think the incoming flight had arrived. There were very few seats on the inside of the gate - 15 or so perhaps, which is not enough for an Airbus full. Most passengers weren't exactly young and the a/c didn't appear very efficient. I hate to think what would happen at busy times or with flight delays. I would not want to return there. Surely departure terminals should have plenty of seats! On the incoming flight a week earlier our whole flight's luggage didn't reach the carousel for a very long time either.

Pleasantly surprised by the recent refurbishment of T1. Travelled from Malpensa twice recently and passed through both security and passport controls very quickly and without hassle. Once through passport control and down the stairs there were some electric buggies for hire. Given the amount of walking needed I'm not surprised.

My first trip from MXP for a couple of years and it has really improved. Alas check-in was painfully slow. I was at the back of the queue and it took 45 minutes before I reached one of the two desks asigned for BA economy passengers. At least the clerk was friendly and processed me quickly. Thereafter it got better. There is now a single entry point for securuty and that was working well. The refurbishments mean the airport is now clean and pleasant. There are more shops and resturants/cafes, which is no bad thing. Passport check was fast too. I had no time to look around, but certainly things have got alot beter. Same on arrival too last week. I just hope they keep the quality up and maintain the terminal to the standard its at now.

I arrived at Milan Malpensa for an early morning flight (7:40 am) and saw many options for coffee and breakfast on my way through security. However, once I went through immigration and went towards the B gates, none of the cafes were open. There was nowhere to have a coffee or buy water before 7am which was annoying and many people were waiting. It doesn't make sense to have nothing open after immigration at a busy time.

Following improvement for Expo 2015, the airport now has better service both in terms of facilities and of security check. This last has been totally remade and now means that there are short waiting times before the security check, thus reducing time needed before boarding.

Just for the smokers out there - Terminal 1 has two smoking booths. Located after passport control adjacent to gate 59 and close to B20. There are a lot of posts saying that there are no smoking areas, but as of 17th November 2015 there are because I have just seen them.

Malpensa is not a memorable airport but there is nothing much to complain about. The check-in area has beautiful huge windows overlooking the runway. After that you will find out that the layout design of this airport is very poor as you will walk through corridors left and then downstairs only to go the same way to the right, then a long walk to the left again etc. In the end you will do quite a bit of walking through cold marble corridors and it won't make much sense. On arrival however it's a quick walk through an even quicker passport control to the exit so that's very good. There is a lack of signs to the bus stop and there are many exits so keep that in mind. In general in Italy people prefer to ask and talk about things rather than put good signs or info on the web so if you can't find something just ask, that's how things work. For example the shuttle bus stops at the LCC terminal first but the only way you can find out about this is by asking as there will be no announcement or explanation on its own. Terminal is quite clean, and there are nice comfortable chairs and lounge chairs everywhere. Shopping and especially food options are a true downside. You'd expect more from Milan, but even without any expectations the offer is poor and the prices are appalling (basic stuff like bottled water cost several times over the RRP).