Stockholm Arlanda Airport

I've used a lot of airports, do a lot of transatlantic travel (in economy class), and never felt compelled to review one until now. I was transiting on a flight from Belgrade, going to New York JFK. I had 4 hours to do so. Getting off the plane, it was baffling where I should go to transit. I needed to get a boarding pass for my next flight. There was a screen with departure gates and some arrows pointing to the gate I needed, so I started out that way, only to find an arrow pointing me back in the exact opposite direction. There was nobody around to ask. I went through passport control and then a round of security to transfer, and had an overpriced fast food meal. Still needed that boarding pass - no transfers desk in sight. I spent about 40 minutes trying to find out where I should go to get it. I ended up having to leave through customs and go to the arrivals hall, where I was asked to queue with those wanting to drop their baggage. I was subjected to extensive questioning on the purpose of my trip in the long check-in queue. By the time I got to the counter, they had no aisle seats left. Security queues were long. Wifi was poor - could not connect. After I arrived at JFK, I found that my bag had been left in Stockholm. I won't be traveling through Stockholm again.

I live in Stockholm and I have used Arlanda a number of times through the years always for international flights. The airport is clean not particularly crowded and has both fast and slow connections to downtown Stockholm depending on your wallet size. There are of course a number of negative aspects: check-in service is often slow and distances between terminals annoyingly long as well as bereft of walkways. Irritatingly it is necessary to navigate through the taxfree shops in order to get to the gates. Arlanda is clean and spacious except for some arrival sections. The airport as a whole is expensive but wi-fi is free. Arlanda is functional in a typical Swedish way. However transfer passengers suffer due to poor signage and a stretched layout.

I've flown in and out of this airport on a flight from Europe on SAS so I used Terminal 5 both times. The arrival was fast there are enough signs to navigate through the airport ATMs are located in arrival and departure areas and restrooms are near the gates. After a 5 minute walk we reached the luggage belt and collected our bags just a few minutes later. We took a taxi to our hotel which are stopping right in front of the terminal. On our way back for the return flight we took one of the Shuttle busses which is much cheaper and also quite fast. The bag drop for the return flight was very easy and it was possible to drop them in self service or at a counter. Even if there were lots of flights at this time the following security check was fast. Only shortage in the check-in area: there are not a lot of shops but a restaurant with a nice view on the apron. The security area was modern and had lots of shops of different kinds free wifi was available and a lot of power outlets. On both arrival and return this airport made a very good impression to me.

The worst airport I have seen in Europe! Just today I was returning to Turkey from Arlanda Airport and waited 50 mins to leave my baggage and 45 mins for passport control - I had arrived at the airport 1 hour 45 mins before my flight! There were only 3 counters open for baggage claim although they saw there was a huge queue. Same thing for passport control! Only one desk was open for passport control. I reached my plane 10 mins later than the departure time (same for many other people) - so our plane left 35 mins late! I hope they fix this kind of ignorance soon!

General facilities: The airport is quite large but very limited variety of shops and restaurants. Skycity looks large but quite disappointingly very limited choice of food. Wifi is extremely poor save and except for wifi of Mcdonald's at Skycity which is good. Arlanda Express is fast and is easily reached from different terminals. Free shuttle buses of Alfa and Beta were frequent and provided a really convenient mode of connection between terminals and surrounding hostels and hotels. Washrooms after immigration check was exceptionally small queues are often seen even for males. Domestic departure: ARN-OSL - Everything smooth. No complaints at all. Domestic arrival: TOS- ARN - Baggage was slow. International arrival: PEK-ARN - Baggage was slow. International departure: ARN-PEK - Self check-in only. Machines responded really slowly some were even out of order.

WiFi did not work during several attempts due to the stupid system used which requires an SMS which has to be sent to the mobile phone with a code. Did not work with a German mobile number of German Telecom.

I was changing flights (international to international) but was immediately appalled by the fact that there are no signs indicating where transfer passengers had to go. As a result I ended in the actual Arrivals hall. I then wanted to ask someone at the "Service Center" for directions but the main center was closed and I had to go to another service desk farther away. Here it was apparently open except for that no one was there to help. I then got hold of one of the trolley boys who told me the way to go. I had to go back up the arrival hall and turn left. And as he warned me: There are no signs. All this took 30 mins. but could have been avoided if only there had been signs. "Taxfree" shop pretty standard. There was a nice cafe with the usual exorbitant prices. Clean terminal. Polite staff (if you can find them).

T5. As a father of 4 and a Stockholm resident Arlanda succeeds at most things (cleanliness security shopping play areas) but fails dismally at food and beverage pricing. On the plus side for children there are two play areas. Now where Arlanda fails is that it's almost impossible to get children's food either for eating or take-on- board at a decent price. My benchmark for this has always been Boots in the UK where there have £3.99 meal deal (air side) giving you a 500ml drink a double/triple sandwich and a sweet snack. In Arlanda it would be impossible to do this for less than £12 or SEK120. With 4 children and the no liquids rule at security the cost of feeding my children is about 10% of the cost of a budget flight for each of us. Things have been improved recently with the addition of a local fast food joint "Max" in T5. Come on Arlanda. Sweden is supposed to be child friendly and with Arlanda food pricing you receive a big "fail".

The airport is modern and clean but it is an airport where passengers are milked like a cash cow. The gates in Terminal 5 have no or much too few seats - everyone is standing. The only way to sit is to buy something in a nearby cafe or restaurant and sit there. Also passengers are routed through various shops when going to the gate which needlessly increases walking distances and is quite annoying anyway. The prices in cafes and restaurants are rather ridiculous (7-8 Euros for a cappuccino anyone?).

Fantastic airport only brought down by the bad food served by the restaurants at the international arrivals hall. The security team was by far the friendliest I have ever met in all my years of travelling! They even manage to smile a bit as they politely move people through security.