Warsaw Chopin Airport

Beautiful new modern airport. But God forbid to be a transit passenger there or worse - to miss a connecting flight. The level of incompetence bottle neck at the security lack of informed personnel and just pure lack of personnel to process all passengers is incredible! Tens of passengers line up to one tiny security check point with 2-3 border security officers who never seem to be in rush! If one missed a connecting flight and needs tickets redone and hotel ordered - there will be probably only one poor soul doing that no matter how many passengers are there (my personal experience). I did not see one single manager coming to check on those bottle necks making me wonder if they know at all what's going on there. No ribbons to create the lines and people just pile up by the counters! I have to travel through Warsaw once in a while and wished those issues there paid attention to and addressed to make experience at Poland's main air hub more pleasant and less stressful!

I arrived from Helsinki on the 10th of September. The arrival signages were good and easy to understand / navigate. Luggage came out on the belt more or less 15 minutes after the arrival time which I found pretty good. There were a limited number of toilets at the luggage collection area and I was not happy due to their size. Too small and leaving your luggage outside of the toilet is a definitely no for security reason! The train service to and from the airport was really good and safe. For my flight to Brussels on the 12th of September I came more or less 2 hours before the flight departure. I saw a huge queue on both at the check-in and security area. The check-in lady was kind and helpful. However through my observation she took too long with the average 8 to 9 minutes to handle a single passenger even he or she was travelling without a check- in bag. Overall observation the airport staff for both those working at the duty free outlets and the airline staff were helpful but not generally friendly or approachable.

Well-organized mid-size airport. Airbridges to terminal building so quick deboarding and short way to baggage carousel. A mere five minute wait for luggage to arrive and just three minutes from terminal A to get to the metro terminus. Tickets can be bought on platform and aboard train but watch out: ticket machine on train only accepts Polish coins no bills or credit cards. Average two trains per hour to downtown Warsaw - be aware that stops alternate between "Centralna" (central station) and Srodmiescie which is a local station nearby. Departing from Frederic Chopin Airport is a pleasure: no waiting at self check-in kiosks friendly staff available for help quick baggage drop and a friendly security staff performing quick and efficient checks. Several well-assorted duty free shops but limited somewhat pricey food options. Only shortcoming: there seems to be a limited number of toilets and those that are available should be cleaned more often. Apart from that: plenty seating at gates wide open spaces and overall very pleasant atmosphere.

I flew in and out of Warsaw from Newark via Lisbon on TAP. I did not check luggage and flew out on the way in through a clean modern looking airport. On the way back I had a very early flight and so I chose to sleep at the airport rather than waking up at a hostel at 3 or 4 in the morning. Public transit to and from the city is by bus which is relatively pleasant. The facilities in the airport were adequate and the large room by the entrance is very pleasant. When I had to leave security was no problem and while I may have only been semi-conscious I can't remember any troubles.

Due to an overnight stay inbound I could enjoy Arrival/Check In Service as well as Transit only operations outbound. On arrival airplane parked on a remote stand open stairs which was not pleasant due to arrival in rainy weather. Bus ride was short and bags came shortly after arriving at the belt. Next morning departure was during morning rush hour online check in the day before and at the baggage drop off were no people waiting lines at the regular check in were long. Security check was fast a 5 minute wait and staff friendly. The Terminal is easy to navigate departure was again from a remote stand in rainy weather. On return I had 50 minutes for transit. Domestic to Schengen there was no security check upon arrival aircraft arrived and left from Gate no bus rides this time. From leaving the aircraft to the departure gate took 10 minutes no hassle no stress. The shops are rather expensive rest rooms could be cleaner but generally a positive experience.

After the long-awaited construction of the central and northern piers the airport has visibly changed for the better. Check-in and security control are very efficient now with a much larger number of jet bridges most airlines that do not use turboprops use these now which eliminates the need for the annoying bus ride to the plane. There is a larger number of shops and cafes and what I really like about WAW is that it is spotless clean. Well-insulated smoking cabins have been installed and now toilets don't smell like cigarette smoke anymore. One thing that is still missing is some cheaper dining options. The older part of the terminal is not in such a good shape but is due for refurbishment in the coming few months. Also on the positive also the new train connection to city centre has just opened I'm looking forward to using it next time I'll be in WAW which is in 2 weeks!

LHR to Terminal A return with LOT. Outgoing flight 5 minutes late followed by a 40-minute wait for bags. No airbridges yet again just the usual bus ride to the terminal - do flights from the UK ever use air bridges at WAW? The new bus ticket machines save a lot of time on queuing at kiosks and provide much-needed change. Early morning return flight check-in and security cleared in 10 minutes no problems. Reasonable facilities available after security. Airport incredibly clean for a major airport - UK airports take note. A good experience overall and I will continue to use the airport regularly.

Fly with a regular airline from time to time and you will experience standard procedures at terminal 2 if you are flying low cost do not expect much it is the Polish way. I was flying WAW-GDN domestic with my wife no problems at check-in or security the terminal is new so it is kind of empty and the lack of a decent restaurant before and after entering the terminal is still a problem. However overall its nice clean (much cleaner than most western airports) and spacious also the instructions in English were OK.

Check-in was bad with agent absolutely refusing to check my bag to Oslo even though I had a valid ticket for that sector. He would not issue a boarding card for that sector. Whilst waiting in the lounge not a single announcement could be heard over the airport tannoy in English - everything in Polish only. Turned out our gate had been changed at last minute but nothing announced to help non Polish-speakers. Worst check-in and waiting experience I have encountered.

We flew with LOT from London Heathrow to Yerevan Armenia with an 8.5 hr wait at Frederick Chopin Airport Warsaw. Having read so many negative reviews I was not looking forward to such a long wait there. However I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. There were plenty of seats in the waiting area which is spacious and has a small play area for children all of which was new and clean. The toilet facilities were also clean and well maintained. I was particularly impressed that there are electric wall sockets that you can use. We plugged in our portable DVD player for the kids and several people were plugging their laptop's in. There are a few duty free shops and a shop selling sandwiches bottles of drink chocolate crisps newspapers and so on. There are also a couple of cafe's which were pleasant. The service in all of these outlets was helpful and friendly - most of them spoke English which was useful. We were able to use Euros although the change given was in Polish currency which was pretty useless to us once we had left the airport. We had no problems with the baggage security check in fact the security people were friendly and helpful. The only real down side for me was that as with other airports there is nowhere to buy a substantial meal. The cafe's only offered food such as sandwiches pastries and cakes - it would have been nice to have been able to buy a cooked lunch in a restaurant.