James Cannon Review of BAA London Stansted
What was once a simple and pleasant airport has no...
What was once a simple and pleasant airport has now been totally ruined by the new management. I travelled through Stansted mid-August 2014 and expected it to be busy, but it was worse than I had expected. Firstly, I queued for some time to drive into the airport at 5am (parking was straightforward once I got to the car park). Then inside the terminal things got worse. Departures/Security had moved to the far end of the terminal and looked like a temporary, dull area. Hundreds of people crammed into three disorganised queues. Once through that nightmare, onwards into the maze-like and even cramped shop. I was in no relaxed mood to shop by this stage. Then into the terminal lounge, which resembled a refugee camp. The two-way flight with Ryanair was pleasant though! When I returned a couple of days later, it took ages to transit from the gate to the terminal where I was met with more chaos. 15 ePassport gates were situated "for our speedy convenience" but not all were functioning and only one member of staff was able to assist those (and there were many) who had problems. When I got through this, I literally ran out of the airport to my car and accelerated away as fast as I could! I provided Stansted with my experience/feedback but I've heard nothing back from them. My sympathy goes to Norman Foster who never planned for his design to be treated in such a shocking, chaotic, cramped and stressful mess. Good bye Stansted, as I'll never use you again!
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