Newquay Airport

✅ Trip Verified | A small regional airport with a convenient commuter service to Gatwick and Manchester throughout the year, with a raft of other destinations in the summer. The big issue with this airport is how inaccessible it is and it's lack of integration with the public transport system. The ONLY way to get to this station without a car is a local bus that runs between Newquay and Padstow quite infrequently. If they ran a shuttle service to connect you with the major rail hubs at St Austell or Truro it would really improve matters, but for now they're happy to force you on a 2 hour bus journey to either of those locations (there's no direct service), or a half hour taxi ride that will set you back at least £50. If the transport options were better I'd use this airport more often.

❎ Not Verified | It is great that Cornwall has an airport connecting it to the rest of the country and indeed the rest of the world. Not so great is the really bad public transport links to and from the airport. The 15 or so miles from Truro to the airport should not take the best part of two hours and should not involve a change of bus along the way! The main city in the county should have a direct and frequent shuttle bus service to and from the airport. Taxis in Cornwall are a notoriously expensive alternative.

❎ Unverified | We were checked in for our 16.50 flight to Birmingham by a very surly, unhelpful, unfriendly young lady as if we were a complete inconvenience and should not be troubling her! Our Flybe flight was delayed until 19.10. We were told that the plane standing on the tarmac had to go to Stansted first and return for the Birmingham passengers! This did not happen and the flight was further delayed until 21.10. It was announced that refreshment vouchers would be supplied. It was announced that these vouchers were ready to collect. The woman behind the desk was very rude to myself and another family. No smile (is this how their staff are trained). She told me, very rudely, I should have gone through security for the vouchers to be issued. I pointed out to her that I was not prepared to sit on the other side of security for 4 hours with no means of any fresh air until my flight. She very begrudgingly issued 2 vouchers. Not impressed. She was at least being paid for being at the airport, I was not. The attitude of some staff is abysmal. The food at the airport is absolutely disgusting. If I had paid for that rubbish I would have asked for my money back. Very expensive too.

❎ Unverified | Without doubt the worst airport I have ever used. As someone who travels many times a year for the last twenty years I have seen a few. Queues that were out the door of the tiny unsuitable departure hall. People standing in the rain with kids getting soaking wet, patiently waiting to drop off bags, only two check in staff to handle several flights at the same time. Over and hour to just drop a single bag, far too long to get through unpleasant rude security, to nearly miss my flight. Awful, avoid at all costs.

✅ Verified Review | The security staff who work on screen departure hand luggage and passengers at Newquay have to be the best I have encountered for being kind, helpful and going the extra mile. I travel a great deal with my work and know the rules on liquids but still stupidly packed an expense aftershave in my hand luggage that was 125mls. Instead of saying too bad it has to be thrown out, the staff went to great lengths to look at all my options and the one that would mean I didn't lose my bottle. The only workable option was to post it back to myself and one lady in particular, I am so sorry I don't know your name so cannot say thank you in person, went the extra mile. She provided 2 envelopes and some bubble wrap helped me (wrapped for me) package the offending article and took me back out of security so I could post it back to myself. It arrived today none the worse for its journey. I am aware the airport wasn't busy but the care and kindness with which the whole staff dealt with my stupidity was wonderful and I hope that they get to read this and know that I really appreciate what they did for me.

❎ Unverified | Returning home from holiday in Cornwall. Newquay airport is very good - going though security was straight forward and the staff were very polite. When you get into the departure lounge there is a lovely cafe with quite a bit to choose from - again friendly staff. I have used this airport for last 3 years and will continue to do so.

My wife and I were pleased that we were able to choose Newquay Airport as a departure point to a holiday to Italy. We understand that this a small provincial airport and some of the services provided by larger airports may not be available. However, we did not expect a problem with the check in luggage transporter to leave us and a couple of hundred other passengers waiting up to 15 minutes standing at the check in desk. Almost certainly this contributed to a delay in departure time. Eventually, understandably disgruntled staff had to manually move luggage to allow check in to continue. Unbelievably, a similar problem occurred on return to Newquay. Again airport staff had to manhandle cases through one access port to another. Passengers were tripping over scattered cases which covered the floor. The whole fiasco resembled a scene from Fawlty Towers. Is this normal procedure at this airport? Some more seasoned passengers suggest not. Can anyone comment on this.

Newquay Airport should send their staff to a busy regional airport like Bristol to see what smiling efficiency with customer service actually looks like. The absurdly over the top security staff, hopeless cafe staff, the comedy of car hire and parking is a disgrace. The whole point of no frills flying on regional flights is not to waste time airside and yet they still try to close flights early and seperate folks from their relatives over an hour before departure to sit in a glorified shed with scant facilities and then be herded into tiny gate area - utter nonsense.

This airport seems to be run by a structurally corrupt body. Getting to and from this airport involves paying extortionate fees to a company, licensed by Cornwall County Council. Normal taxis are not allowed on site. Nor can you be dropped of by car by friends or relatives without charge (see other reviews). A company called 'Coastline Travel Cornwall', as they proudly boast are 'Cornwall Airport Newquay's only official taxi provider'. As a legalised monopoly they charge extortionate prices to take passengers to nearby towns. They charge 400% per kilometer than any other taxi service in Europe. This 'taxi' fare to Newquay (5 miles away) is higher than the flight fares charged by Ryanair to Alicante or Frankfurt Hahn. There is an hourly bus service, run by 'First' to Newquay which is advertised at the airport terminal, but in fact it runs at random times, at approximately 2 hr intervals. Disgruntled staff at the airport admit that the bus service seems to be deliberately sabotaged by 'First' as a means to force people to use the monopoly 'Coastline Travel Cornwall'. It would seem that there is a link between the Cornwall Council Officials, 'First' local managers and 'Coastline Travel Cornwall' to extract money from customers trapped at the airport.

I don't normally leave reviews, but as most of these for Newquay are quite old and not nice, I felt obliged to, as our experience was very pleasurable. The staff were brilliant, very polite and jovial. It is a small airport, so expect small airport facilities. The parking seems a bit limited - I left it late to book and couldn't get a space there. But here's a tip. We parked in Porth up a side street which didn't look like it would upset anybody (as opposed to the parking next to the airport which does) had a lovely day out and an amazing meal in The Mermaid and had a quick bus ride to the airport for £12 for 4 of us. If your timings work out right, that's the way I'd go, as Porth is lovely (it helped it was a beuatiful day). Back to the airport, it's fine, no worries.