Sharm El Sheikh Airport

Arrival not too bad no signs or help given just uniformed people shouting at you. Going home was a nightmare! They scan all of your luggage on arrival. No signs around so most of it is guess work as there is no one to ask. The ladies toilets were filthy blocked no soap and taps hanging of the walls. Duty Free is another joke we tried to get in and were shouted at that we could not take our bags in. Most of the shelves were empty and there are loads of staff milling around doing nothing. The departure gates are a nightmare none of them display the correct information. A lovely building that is staffed by rude inefficient staff so keep your wits about you!

I was impressed with the service we got a Sharm airport Terminal 2. Although I was travelling with an injured son to and from Sharm the staff were helpful and arranged things quickly and efficiently. I agree with the comments of others the standard of hygiene in the toilet facilities is horrendous. That aside I would use the airport again as the staff were so nice and friendly I'll just make sure I don't use the facilities again.

The ladies toilets were really disgusting. Every toilet was blocked and the smell was awful. The soap dispenser was ripped off the wall. Furthermore there was no soap. The perfect situation for gastro-enteritis. My granddaughter travelled through the same airport a few weeks previously they had a delay of seven hours and she had the same problem even worse for her having to make more use of it due to the delay. So it appears that this is usual. Considering that this airport is modern there is no excuse for such filthy conditions. I did observe a 'cleaning' woman with a mop bucket nearby she was just seated and doing nothing.

Flew into terminal 1 and out of terminal 2. On arrival we were slightly delayed getting a stand but once off the plane we were through customs in minutes and our bags had arrived within 20 minutes of getting to the carousel. The airport was clean and staff polite. On the way back it took around 40 minutes from arrival to sitting in the departure lounge with a glass of wine. The airport is quite modern and clean and there were plenty of places to get food and drink and plenty of seating. The toilets do let them down. Delays at Manchester for immigration and baggage are much worse.

Was lucky in that I flew from Cairo to Sharm business class so no queues for the visa desk or wait on carousel as we just had carry on bags for weekend. However the return check in was a joke - we had electronic tickets and as such you only need to show your passport - not here or in Cairo however as they insist on paper confirmation. After a suitable crazy exchange with security guard he allowed us through and check in fine. Was given voucher for business lounge which was in fact seats in a separate part of seating area of departure lounge and food drink from common cafe counter who refused to give 3 of us free drink and food to us as they say only one voucher so only one of each even though voucher said 3 persons on it. You have same visa problems in any Egyptian airport when entering country - no system exists. Thursday night is worst as it starts local weekend and all locals go home early and don't work late.

A word of advice. don't arrive on a thursday evening as this place descends into utter chaos. We arrived at the same time as around 10 other flights landed. We went to the visa desk & then tried to negotiate passport control. The place was just heaving with people not instructed on what to do or where to go. A little taped barrier was erected to try and stop the utter chaos that was happening. It took 2 hours to get through this mess. There was no baggage belt displayed for my flight so spent another 30 mins looking for my luggage. Coming back was not so bad. We nearly missed our flight as the gate we were supposed to leave from did not display our flight. Eventually we heard people shouting our flight then eventually announced it through the tannoy.

Always found the airport staff friendly and quite efficient. If you need a visa have $15 dollars US with you as the exchange rates offered fo £sterling and Euros are not competitive. Remember to buy your duty free here as Egyptian spirits and wine are to put it mildly not the best. Arrange onward transport or you will be ripped off. 150-250 le should get you a taxi to Dahab and no more than 40-50le anywhere in Sharm El Sheikh. As with travel anywhere know what you are doing and look as though you know what you are doing.

Always get transfers arranged on arrival with two or three dozen taxi's outside trying to arrange a trip of 8 km fights broke out between cabbies] fighting to get the fare charging between 100EL and 400EL - about £13- £45 for this short trip. Even the local buses try to rip you off and every one expects to be tipped heavily.

If ever the term 'Hell on Earth' was a fitting appellation for an airport lounge it should surely be most aptly applied to Sharm el Sheikh Egypt. The queues for the check in desks seemed to be endless and hardly moved. We timed our wait at just two minutes under one and a half hours and this on a Sunday night at 10 pm. Then there was the charade of security which the Egyptians approached with their usual laid back casual manner. The men at the scanners barely glanced at the screens which meant that bottled water was waved through as were cans of beer. The body scanners were constantly bleeping due in my case to a brass buckled belt and in my wife's to a metal knee plate. This seemed to cause the operators much amusement as they again waved us through with a charming smile; all this before the unsavory toilets and departure lounge. After a brilliant holiday at a five star hotel this shock to the system decided us never to face this degrading experience ever again.

Our first experience and one not to be repeated. We arrived at 3am and for a flight of 240 people there was one person on passport control despite others just hanging around. It took for ever to get through. Return much worse. No info as to where to check in boards were out of date we were told to join one queue which turned out to be wrong. It was total chaos despite staff hanging around everywhere doing nothing. Surprised that we didn't get asked re liquids etc and we all took water etc through. No-one picked up on it. The endless queuing was a farce and there was no-one supervising anything. Departure lounge looked like a scene from a horror movie with people covering every inch of the floor space. All departure boards were wrong and we had to rely on occasional announcements that were in very poor English and other passengers to find out what was boarding where. The toilets were more than disgusting. Its a shame but I cant see myself ever wishing to visit Sharm again.T he authorities need to sort this out and soon.