Svalbard Airport

Not Verified | Apparently the world's most northerly airport. Rather informal as you might expect, but struggling to cope with the surge in tourism to Svalbard/Spitsbergen. Predictably every arriving flight (there are about 4/5 a day at this time of year, amazingly) from either Oslo or Tromso is turning straight round and going back - no surprise 'cos there really isn't anything beyond LYR. But this means that the same staff who are supposed to be doing check-in for departures are also coping with the arrival, luggage queries, etc. Add to this a shared arrivals/departures hall and a very modest security screening provision, and you get endless and confused queues, frustrated pax etc. As and when you finally get airside the departure gate hall is surprisingly spacious and calm, with a little cafe etc. The only advice is to keep calm. It's in no-one's interest to leave you behind, as that would only add to issues on the next flight, and in our experience, despite the apparently endless queue and slow processing (many passengers are transferring at Oslo so that adds complexity) everyone got on the plane and we left on time.