Milan Malpensa Airport

Initially not a bad airport. Thumbs up for quick security clearance though and we must accept that having to embark/disembark via shuttle bus is simply part of air travel these days. Until they build more gates at least.

For an airport which is not so old the services at Malpensa are appalling. The way of closing all bars and shops from 9 at night until 9 in the morning - is this an international airport or a shopping mall ?

MXP should be reconstructed restructured reorganized. It is one of the worst airports you will ever get a chance to visit. Arrival haul for check-in is confusing signs are small only two posts with screens showing check-in gates. Bad choices of shops unfriendly staff badly signed. Once you check in you have to track downstairs to go through the security - which is really inconvenient as there are only stairs. Security lines took me about 40mins before I got to the terminal. With little time to spare I looked around for some shops - most of them were small reminded me of little South American airport stands - definitely not worth an Italian - airport hub. Buses are used (I transited 3 times in February) to transfer the pax - something awful in the Italian cold and once it was even raining so we got on the plane completely wet. Overall this is one of the worst airports - avoid at all costs unless something major changes. Sad thing to see gateway to Northern Italy in such a disastrous state.

Arrived in Schengen no probs about immigration. Bags arrived in 10 minutes which is unheard of in the infamous baggage history of this airport. Admittedly this was handled by ATA better or far more reliable than SEA handling. I hope the future absence of Alitalia with it withdrawing most services from the airport will make things better!

MXP must be one of the worst airports out there considering its relatively new I do not understand what happened to it. I arrived - absolute lack of gates you will be whisked on the bus if you come from most destinations in Europe. It can get really annoying particularly in the winter months. Only few shops inside couple of restaurants that are not worth much attention. The worst is probably the luggage handling - it took 90 Mins for my luggage to arrive from a flight PRG-MXP on a small A320 plane. 4 different flights were put on the same belt (one from TAM brazil) and other regional airports. The belt would move than stop for 10mins then move few luggage and stop again for 10mins. It was the most frustrating thing I have experienced. MXP needs to improve desperately. Not sure how that is going to happen when Alitalia is going to move all the flights to Rome.

I had an average experience with Malpensa. The Schengen terminal upon arrival was uncrowded so that everything went smoothly. But it is a long walk through endless corridors to reach the baggage claim area. Transfer into Milan city centre is operated by two competing bus companies with rather the same prices. Allow at least 55min between Malpensa and the city easily more in rush-hour periods. Upon departure there are very few and small flight information screens making it difficult to locate the right check-in desks. It is even more difficult to find the gates as security checks take place at an intermediate floor between Arrivals and Departures floors! Security employees were efficient and friendly. The Schengen file (for Gates A) was quick enough but the Non-Schengen queue (for Gates B) seemed to be chronically congested. If you have lounges access ask the check-in desk to tell you where they are as they are very badly posted.

A very average airport not organised at all. As most of the times it is design that counts for Italians while functionality and practicality is very low in their priorities. Staff were pleasant but very slow and there was a mess concerning the e-ticket and baggage drop desks (flying KLM). A lot of shops and prices tend to be normal for a European airport. But I was astonished with the fact that check in is on the 2nd floor and the gates on the 1st. So this means that you have to go down the stairs and if you have hand-baggage carry it all the way down as moving stairs or elevators are not an option here. The security seemed to work fast and efficiently and the people there were even rather friendly. Malpensa is though an airport that has reached its limit since we had to wait for more than half an hour to take off although we were finished with boarding 10 minutes before the given time because of congestion on the ground! All in all a very very average airport serving a large region of both Lombardia and south Switzerland.

First impressions were quite nice when you see the terminal from the outside but once you enter inside - welcome to the maze! The signs for the detour were false people were all hurrying to catch their connecting flights some were lost and some mixed up the directions and went to a closed door instead. What a disappointment. The transit area is extremely full migration procedures fast on EU lane. Should you have an option with a transit via Milan Malpensa try to avoid it and enjoy much better cheaper transfers like Prague for example.

I can hardly believe that Malpenza was only inaugurated a decade ago. This airport has the retro feel of something from the 1970s (even the moving walkways look totally obsolete). I can only speak for the EU- Schengen section of the terminal but all I can say is that the lack of services is woeful. In a country of such style and glorious food how is it that there are so few restaurants? And the under-staffed café at the departure gates is always overwhelmed with long lines. Finally the shopping area is tiny and claustrophobic. This airport is a real disappointment.

Malpensa Terminal 2 home to Easyjet and others has no Car Hire collection desk or drop off facilities. On arrival you have to take the Terminal 1 connection bus (free) which runs every 20 mins or so and collect the car from T1. No fast get away's here. Drop off is the same it's at T1 allow extra time to get back to Terminal 2 for check in. Most annoying especially at 5.30am.