Munich Airport

If you read these reviews you come to the conclusion that Munich is very hit and miss. Either it's a breezy 5 minutes or a terrible ordeal. My experience at Terminal 1 as a non EU citizen is that it is a horrible ordeal. While there were 2 lines and 2 inspectors for EU passports control there were two lines merging to one "all other passport" inspector. A relatively short line that would have been 15-20 mins in any other airport took 60-90 mins. The passport inspector was unbearably slow without any added security that I could determine - we were asked several questions on entry to both the UK and the US but zero questions on exit from Munich. The lack of questions just seemed to make it slower - I've never seen anyone take so long to push a passport through a scanner and apply an exit stamp. This is exit passport control and yet it takes forever just to look at the passport picture and match it to the face of the person. In contrast once we got through passport inspection security itself was well staffed courteous and helpful. Several people were late for their flights due to the slow passport control. The airport rep explained that she had no control over the passport control process or staffing.

First time that I had the experience of having to pass through full security immediately at the arrival gate (although my arrival was from Europe) - then going twice through passport and document control just to get to another full control including frisking. All of that was happening in the transit zone? Toilets were semi-clean cafes overpriced.

I have flown from both terminals. Terminal 1 is long and narrow so when queues build up at check-in you cannot move about the terminal. There were huge queues at security mainly due to a lack of space and attention to people in which needed assistance. Once through security there are a lack of shops the toilets were unclean bins overflowing and a lack of seats. At terminal two the queues are stupidly long as they don't open enough check-in desks security queues quick but at passport it take forever. At the gates again a lack of shops and a very inappropriate shop which can be insulting to a number of religions they do not care for others at Munich airport.

I had two hour layovers in Munich last month travelling from Montreal to Rome and from Rome to Montreal. I found the airport very easy to get around in and the staff very helpful - a pleasant experience.

Departing for EDI. Terminal 1C (non-Schengen). Positives the rail link (S-Bahn) out to the airport though at EUR10 it is getting pricey no check-in queue for easyjet. Negatives a twenty-five minute queue for passport control and security limited and frankly uninspiring facilities.

Transit in Munich for 2 hours from Rome to London City. Very impressed with the layout and the environment settings. Free coffee/tea machines and all kinds of newspapers available. Immigration officers friendly. Got an ice-cream for EUR1.10! The best European airport I have been to so far.

BOM-MUC-SFO spent close to 10 hours in the airport. Most of the shops and restaurants open after 12 noon. We cannot compare with Singapore or London airports but lots of things to kill your time. Interesting observation I made was one gate may have different numbers based on which floor you are arriving/departing. Overall a clean nice airport nothing great to underline.

For many years I have been a fan of Munich airport queues are shorter than at Frankfurt and it is a more pleasant airport in which to connect compared with Lufthansa's other hub at Frankfurt. Unfortunately this no longer the case. After my experience on 2nd April while clearing security to LEJ I passed through the control without incident but my wife's bags were simply held back from passing on through the x-ray device because the security office had allegedly mumbled in German for my wife to remove her jacket (which was in fact a shirt). He made no other attempt to communicate with us or any of his colleagues down the line that he had kept back the bags and simply walked off leaving our bags unattended. Included in the box were all our valuables including computer passports boarding cards and money which could easily have been stolen by anyone passing by the end of the security line. It was only after a few minutes that we realised the bags had not come through the x-ray and my wife challenged why this was. When the employee was unable to clarify we asked to see a supervisor whose English was insufficient to understand the problem. I attempted to speak to him in German but his customer service skills did not extend to listening to the issue or attempting to speak to the security officer to find out what the issue might be. He simply shouted aggressively that the security check was done correctly and we should take the train if we do not like the security arrangements. It seems to be the norm at Munich that when authority is challenged the basics of customer service are forgotten. Basic skills like listening empathising and attempting to seek a mutually acceptable resolution are completely absent. In no airport in the world have we experienced such appalling service. I appreciate that we were at the airport at a peak time but that is no excuse for the non-existent communication by the security official nor for the extremely poor standard of communication by the supervisory staff in what is supposed to be an international hub airport. To simply fail to scan hand baggage on account of my wife refusing to remove her shirt resulted in a nasty incident was created which will certainly harm MUC airport brand image.

I used MUC for arrival and departure last week. On both occasions my experience was fine. Fast immigration fast and efficient security lots of shops and eateries perfectly clean toilets and bright airy T2. T1 which I also used is older but still a fine place to arrive at. Overall place and connection to the city is lovely. The only minus was that my all flights were served from apron and on departure getting to the bus incurred 4 very steep flights downstairs which wasn't a trouble for me but certainly was for passengers with children or for elder people. One score off for that however it's probably was an airline issue.

Simply the best airport I have ever flown into or out of. Everything is designed to make the journey pleasant and efficient for passengers. No being funneled through perfume shops lots of places to eat and very inexpensive. No problem with security or signage.