Split Airport

We were catching a flight from Split to London around 10 in the morning on a weekday early in September. Everything went smoothly - no queues, no long wait in the (admittedly not exciting, but adequate for our purposes) departure lounge. On-time departure. Just bring your own sandwich. Only niggle was that the security folk insisted on my wife removing all her bangles - not a task to be undertaken lightly.

This would be one of the worst airports that I have been thru other than some third world countries. There are no banking facilities in the departure hall. The selection of food was limited to stale rolls or a sandwich, most containing a sliver of cheese and some ham (which was more like raw bacon). All items were grossly overpriced. Very- poor shopping options. Unfortunately we were at the airport early and had a very boring wait for our flight.

Queues everywhere. Overpriced shops. Really insufficient seating in the departure area. Delays on several flights.

What a dreadful experience. If ever I visit Croatia again (which I would love to) I will not use Split Airport. We (2 adults and 2 children) got our flights back on Saturday 8th August. The airport was a seething mass of humanity queuing and queuing. The queues were so long they continued outside the airport. Staff were giving conflicting information. There was inadequate seating and the place looked more like a refugee camp. The planes were running on time. I hate to think what this place would be like if there were to be delays.

Flew out of Split airport on a Saturday evening. Queues everywhere and departure lounge in particular was bursting with people. There was vastly inadequate seating and not even enough floor space for tired passengers to sit on without causing an obstruction to others. I couldn't believe how many more passengers were allowed to pour in when there was clearly inadequate room for existing passengers due to flight delayed caused by weather. When passengers were finally called to gates they were left standing for a good 30 minutes before a member of staff began to process the enormous queue that had built up. Our gate number was changed at the last minute and it took ages to work our way through the crowds to join the long queue. Once through the gate we waited an equally long period of time queuing for the airport bus on the hot stairwell. My overall opinion is that this airport does not have the capacity to cope with the volume of people coming through at peak periods. Even taking into account the delays due to weather I struggle to see how this airport has enough seats public toilets (no toilet paper in any of ladies toilets) food and drink areas for the numbers passing through. Incidentally the first mention we had concerning the cause of delay was when the pilot announced this was due to bad weather in Europe just prior to take off. All airport staff looked stressed and fed up. It has well and truly put me off using Split airport ever again.

I recently flew from Split airport on 5th July to London Gatwick via EasyJet. I am a frequent flyer and regularly travel to airports across the world. I am disappointed to say that the customer service and facilities that I experienced at Split airport were the worst that I had encountered anywhere. I waited in the "all flights boarding" line for 30 mins only to be told once I reached the desk that I was "too early" to check my baggage for this flight. That is unheard of! There was no signs or members of staff advising people of this information. I then had to re-queue at a separate line for 30 mins to be greeted by a very unfriendly and stressed staff member. She did not give me a good experience and was experiencing severe operational difficulties with her team members. Whilst going through security I was pushed aside by a member of the "poliza" security personnel. They did this to several passengers pushing them to one side without asking them to move or even managing to say "excuse me". Terrible behaviour. There is clearly not enough space in the departures hall for the number of passengers flying each day. There was overcrowding throughout the lounge large queues at cafes and restaurants where I continued to have a bad experience.

Small airport mainly serving the leisure traveller. Large single level car park at the front of the terminal building and steps up to the main entrance (ramp as well for trolleys etc). Various Check-in Desks on the right hand side which can get quite busy when a wave of flights depart within a few minutes of each other (eg 3 fights to UK within 1 hour). Security the usual arrangement then Passport Control and an escalator upstairs to the Departure Lounge. A bar/cafe at each end and a reasonable Duty Free. Boarding is done walking down stairs and across the tarmac to the waiting plane. Arrivals is again relatively easy with a walk across the tarmac Passport Control and Baggage Reclaim. In Arrivals there is the usual selection of banks and car rental companies and an Information Desk. Interestingly there is a spiral staircase at the left hand end of the building which leads up to a bar and restaurant which gives very good views of all the aircraft arriving/departing and the apron - this is for anyone to use and provides a good waiting spot. It is a holiday airport but there is WiFi connections but not that many seats.

Arrived in Split from Vienna last month. The overall experience was horrific. We got off the plane there were no buses to take us to the airport. Instead we had to walk in hot weather led by the ground staff who signed us to stop every once in a while to let the planes and ground transport drive by - scary experience! Finally we got to the airport building with no air conditioning and joined the longest passport control line I have ever seen in my life! There were no separate lines for locals and foreigners I could not see any signs and followed the crowd hoping for the best. Security personnel seemed unprofessional and socialized a lot with each other thus adding to the waiting time. After 1.5 hours I was finally through.

Departure to Luton. Took public bus number 37B from the city centre which costs 16 Kn and takes about 50 mins. That particular service stopped just outside the airport on the main road (a 2 min walk to the terminal entrance) but I think most 37 buses stop in front of the building. Check-in was quick and efficient although staff weren't that friendly. No queue at security or immigration the departure lounge was cool and airy. It faces the runway and aircraft stands so there are some great views. Drinks from the bar expensive (500 ml bottle of Coke Zero was 25 Kn) but it was the only place after security to buy food or drink. No shop after security sells newspapers or magazines either.

Split is very efficient (except perhaps for Saturdays during the summer). I have never waited more than ten minutes for luggage and if you are flying Croatia Airlines (or Lufthansa or Austrian) and have status with any Star Alliance airline check-in is a breeze. Security is okay - if it is really busy they have up to three machines but usually only use one during the off-season. Duty free is limited to one general shop and one for perfumes there are two small bars (only one of which is open off-season) for drinks in the lounge and a restaurant/bar before security. They recently opened a business lounge so that may help if you're flying biz. All in all it's a pretty good airport for the business traveler but maybe not such a great one for the holiday traveler during July & August.